Carolyn Sampson, Cappella Amsterdam & Daniel Reuss – Poulenc: Stabat Mater (2014) [Qobuz FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Carolyn Sampson, Cappella Amsterdam & Daniel Reuss – Poulenc: Stabat Mater (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz  | Time – 01:02:02 minutes | 1,08 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download – Source: Qobuz | Booklet, Front Cover | © harmonia mundi

Poulenc’s „Stabat Mater“, which he described as a „requiem without despair“, was written in 1950 following the death of Christian Bérard who designed the sets for Cocteau’s films and plays and was a leading figure of 1940s Paris. This masterly work, dedicated to the Virgin of Rocamadour, gives pride of place to the chorus and clearly shows its line of descent from the French grands motets. On completing it, Poulenc wrote to Pierre Bernac: ‘It’s good, because it’s completely authentic’.

From the time of his pilgrimage to Rocamadour in 1936, Poulenc’s religious output was filtered through his Catholic interpretation of the world and his personal trajectory. The ‘Stabat Mater’ is no exception to this rule, in that it associates the events and circumstances of his own life with the drama of the Gospels. It identifies the three figures of Christ, the Virgin and the Faithful Disciple with biographical figures: Bérard, Poulenc, and the latter’s lover Lucien Roubert, whom he was to refer to as ‘the secret’ of the ‘Stabat Mater’ and ‘Dialogues des Carmélites’.

In December 1959 Leonard Bernstein commissioned a new work from Poulenc for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He chose to write the ‘Sept Répons des Ténèbres’ (Seven Tenebrae Responses) for treble soloist, a chorus of boys’ and men’s voices and symphony orchestra. The posthumous first performance took place on 11 April 1963 at Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall) under the direction of Thomas Schippers. Poulenc had insisted on these all-male vocal forces, but, 50 years after his death, it is important to allow for more widespread performance of this fascinating score which has too long languished in the shadows.

Tracklist:
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Sept Répons des Ténèbres pour soprano, chœur et orchestre
01. I. Una hora non potuistis vigilare mecum
02. II. Judas mercator pessimus
03. III. Jesum tradidit impius
04. IV. Caligaverunt oculi mei
05. V. Tenebrae factae sunt
06. VI. Sepulto Domino
07. VII. Ecce quomodo moritur justus
Stabat Mater pour soprano, chœur mixte et orchestre
08. I. Stabat mater dolorosa
09. II. Cujus animam gementem
10. III. O quam tristis et afflicta
11. IV. Quae moerebat et dolebat
12. V. Quis est homo, qui non fleret
13. VI. Vidit suum dulcem natum
14. VII. Eja mater, fons amoris
15. VIII. Fac Ut Ardeat Cor Meum
16. IX. Sancta mater, istud agas
17. X. Fac ut portem Christi mortem
18. XI. Inflammatus et accensus
19. XII. Quando corpus morietur

Personnel:
Carolyn Sampson, soprano
Cappella Amsterdam
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra
Daniel Reuss, conductor

Download:

mqs.link_CarlynSampsnCappellaAmsterdamDanielReussPulencStabatMater20142496Qbuz.part1.rar
mqs.link_CarlynSampsnCappellaAmsterdamDanielReussPulencStabatMater20142496Qbuz.part2.rar