Emma Kirkby, Daniel Taylor, Theatre Of Early Music – Vivaldi, Pergolesi, Bach: Stabat Mater (2009) MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + FLAC 24bit/44,1kHz

With a disc entitled Stabat Mater and featuring Pergolesi among the composers, it would be natural to expect his setting of this heartfelt meditation on the grief of the Virgin Mary to be included in the programme. Well, it isn’t – and it is! Only a few years after Pergolesi in 1736 had composed his Stabat Mater, JS Bach made an adaptation of it using a contemporary German version of the biblical Psalm 51. To suit the requirements of the new text Bach made certain alterations to Pergolesi’s vocal parts, but retained the scheme of solo arias and duets between a soprano and an alto voice. He also added a new, independent viola part to the score and rewrote the basso continuo, giving the work a new harmonic vitality.

Young Canadian countertenor Daniel Taylor combines a deliciously creamy voice with a keen dramatic sense, and his reputation in this small but nevertheless star-oriented field has been steadily growing. This beautifully recorded release from Sweden’s BIS label seems certain to add to that reputation. Veteran British early music soprano Emma Kirkby gets top billing, but she appears only in the final work on the album, Bach’s Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden, BWV 1083, a transcription and fairly detailed revision of Giovanni Batista Pergolesi’s somber Stabat Mater. This work might be worth the purchase price by itself; it’s less often heard than Bach’s more faithful Vivaldi transcriptions, and the process of remaking the Stabat Mater into a German cantata is interesting before one even gets to the marvelous interplay between Kirkby’s now sharp-edged voice and Taylor’s supple instrument. Pergolesi himself is represented by the Salve Regina, which offers several fine examples of Taylor’s flair for catching hearers’ attention with his text readings. Sample his way of entering with a striking vibrato-free tone in texts of supplication, and then broadening out into a warmer sound as the prayer gains strength. The opening Stabat Mater, RV 621, of Vivaldi, preceded by a short instrumental sonata, is a marvelous example of the dark but lush colors associated with this text in the Baroque, and Taylor’s performances, not overwhelmingly powerful but operatic in their beauty, hang in the mind. Taylor’s period-instrument Theatre of Early Music backs him quietly, with perfect sensitivity. A compelling program, in top-notch renderings. Booklet notes are in English, French, and German.

Tracklist:

01. Antonio Vivaldi – Sonata à 4 al Santo Sepolcro, for 2 violins, viola & continuo in E flat major, RV 130
02. Antonio Vivaldi – Stabat Mater: I. Largo
03. Antonio Vivaldi – Stabat Mater: II. Cuius animam
04. Antonio Vivaldi – Stabat Mater: III. O quam tristis
05. Antonio Vivaldi – Stabat Mater: IV. – Quis est homo
06. Antonio Vivaldi – Stabat Mater: V. Quis non posset
07. Antonio Vivaldi – Stabat Mater: VI. Pro peccatis
08. Antonio Vivaldi – Stabat Mater: VII. Eia Mater
09. Antonio Vivaldi – Stabat Mater: VIII. Fac ut ardeat
10. Antonio Vivaldi – Stabat Mater: IX. Amen
11. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi – Salve Regina: I. Largo
12. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi – Salve Regina: II. Ad te clamamus
13. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi – Salve Regina: III. Ad te suspiramus
14. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi – Salve Regina: IV. Eia ergo advocata
15. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi – Salve Regina: V. Et Jesum, benedictum
16. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi – Salve Regina: VI. O Clemens, o pia
17. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 1
18. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 2
19. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 3
20. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 4
21. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 5-6
22. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 7
23. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 8
24. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 9
25. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 10
26. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 11-15
27. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 16
28. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 17-18
29. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Versus 19-20
30. JS Bach – Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden (Psalm 51), BWV1083 – Amen

Personnel
Theatre Of Early Music
Vivaldi, Pergolesi:
Daniel Taylor – counter-tenor
Adrian Butterfield – violin
Cristina Zacharias – violin
Douglas McNabney – viola
Sarah MacMahon – violoncello
Reuven Rothman – double bass
Sylvain Bergeron – lute
Christopher Jackson – organ

JS Bach:
Emma Kirkby – soprano
Daniel Taylor counter-tenor
Christine Moran – violin
Cristina Zacharias violin
David Miller – viola
Richard Campbell – violoncello
Reuven Rothman – double bass
Sylvain Bergeron – lute
Christopher Jackson – organ

Produced by Jens Braun. Engineered by Thore Brinkmann (Vivaldi, Pergolesi); Jens Braun (Bach).
Recorded in February 2005 at the Grand Séminaire, Montreal, Canada (Vivaldi, Pergolesi),
& in February 2006 at the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon Secours, Montreal, Canada (Bach).
Editing: Nora Brandenburg, Andreas Ruge (Vivaldi, Pergolesi); Elisabeth Kemper (Bach).
Mixed by Jens Braun & Thore Brinkmann.

SACD ISO

mqs.link_EmmaKirkbyDanielTaylrTheatrefEarlyMusicVivaldiPerglesiBach.StabatMater2009SACDIS.part1.rar
mqs.link_EmmaKirkbyDanielTaylrTheatrefEarlyMusicVivaldiPerglesiBach.StabatMater2009SACDIS.part2.rar
mqs.link_EmmaKirkbyDanielTaylrTheatrefEarlyMusicVivaldiPerglesiBach.StabatMater2009SACDIS.part3.rar
mqs.link_EmmaKirkbyDanielTaylrTheatrefEarlyMusicVivaldiPerglesiBach.StabatMater2009SACDIS.part4.rar

DSF DSD64

mqs.link_EmmaKirkbyDanielTaylrTheatrefEarlyMusicVivaldiPerglesiBach.StabatMater2009DSD64.part1.rar
mqs.link_EmmaKirkbyDanielTaylrTheatrefEarlyMusicVivaldiPerglesiBach.StabatMater2009DSD64.part2.rar
mqs.link_EmmaKirkbyDanielTaylrTheatrefEarlyMusicVivaldiPerglesiBach.StabatMater2009DSD64.part3.rar
mqs.link_EmmaKirkbyDanielTaylrTheatrefEarlyMusicVivaldiPerglesiBach.StabatMater2009DSD64.part4.rar

FLAC 24bit/44,1kHz

mqs.link_EmmaKirkbyDanielTaylrTheatrefEarlyMusicVivaldiPerglesiBach.StabatMater2009FLAC2444.rar