Vivaldi: Stabat Mater /Scholl * Ensemble 415 * Banchini

My favorite Vivaldi Liturgical Music

This relatively short CD (52 minutes) actually has five different works, four short pieces before we get the title Mass of 9 movements. The music is simply divine, and remarkably modern sounding, although to my ear this is probably because it bears a strong resemblence to the opening of Procol Harum's song 'A Salty Dog'. This is not surprising, because PH songwriters Brooker and Reid were often known to crib some tunes from the classics. A thoroughly enjoyable disc all the way around. June 8, 2007

The best Vivaldi Stabat Mater currently available

I write this review some years after first hearing this recording and after hearing a number of more recent recordings by other countertenors.

I was brought up on the James Bowman / Academy of Ancient Music recording made in the 1970s under the direction of Christopher Hogwood. That recording is still my lifelong favourite. However, it is clear to me that Andreas Scholl has presented us with probably the best Vivaldi "Stabat Mater" recording to date. I like Robin Blaze's recording very much and Michael Chance has also recorded a very satisfying "Stabat Mater". I listened to David Daniels' recording on headphones in a shop and it was patently obvious to me that his recording was ridden with vibrato and he seemed unable to get away from a frankly operatic approach to this great work. I tolerate David Daniels' vibrato in Baroque operatic music, only because he has such a great voice, but he was out of his depth in this piece of sacred music.

Andreas Scholl's voice is very smooth and his range is well integrated. His timbre, at the time of recording this work, resembled that of his teacher, René Jacobs - sort of like a Rolls Royce version René Jacobs' voice without the peculiarities, occasional "uglinesses" and "ungainlinesses" of that voice. Scholl's voice is probably a perfect countertenor voice - rich, distinctive, powerful and expressive. Andreas Scholl's experience in singing 17th and 18th century sacred music is far greater than any of his peers, save, perhaps, Michael Chance or Robin Blaze.

This entire disc is exceptionally good. The cantata shows how Herr Scholl can negotiate with ease the most florid music with ease and style.

I had the great pleasure of seeing and hearing Andreas Scholl sing the Stabat Mater and other works of Vivaldi in the Adelaide Town Hall several years ago. It was a marvellous experience and I can report that Herr Scholl has a big voice and very powerful ability to mesmerise an audience through his deep, expressive and intelligent interpretations of the music he sings. Only James Bowman's singing of the same music in the same venue in 1975 was as potent and moving for me in my memories. March 19, 2007

Fireworks and sacred pathos

Almost everything Ensemble 415 records is worth buying. With Andreas Scholl as soloist, this must be the star in their crown to date.

The secular cantata Cessate, omai Cessate is a real bonus. It's said to be "popluar" although personally I cannot remember having seen it advertised in live performance, ever. It's a flashy show-off piece for countertenor, and Andreas Scholl has plenty to show off. You won't hear vocal fireworks like this very often. First time hearing it will take your breath away ... make your hair stand on end.

The intro to the Stabat Mater - in full, not abbreviated as in some recordings - is the sacred mood music Filae Maestae Jerusalem. This piece brings the house down whenever it is performed live, too rarely, and Scholl gives it incredible depth. The steady, ominous rhythm is fabulously rendered by Chiara Banchini.

The Stabat Mater itself continually builds and falls away again as the insights of the writer of the original poem are successively laid before us. Andreas Scholl gives each stanza its own full impact but never loses the flow of the narrative. The last sections, in which the witness (of the Mother's agony at her Son's execution) turns from spectator to pray-er, are a miracle of sensitivity and expression. Andreas Scholl is a master. October 9, 2000

A Vivaldi to nourish the soul..

This is without doubt an amazing dics!

Vivaldi's setting of the Stabat Mater is simple yet profoundly moving and life enriching.. personally, I found it touched me more than Pergolesi's beautiful version. Coupled with a secular cantata (Cessate omai cessate), and several other instrumental works, it is not hard to see why Vivaldi's music has stood the test of time.

Scholl by far, has proven himself a true and most gifted artist. With a honey-toned voice, he weaves for us a delightful canvas of sound (notably in the arias of 'Cessate' track 5 and 7 and the Stabat Mater), and the ease of his vocal techniques and abilities is quite remarkable.

The only other Stabat Mater I own is the Kowalski/Negri on Philips, and I have yet to hear the Chance/Pinnock on DG. But comparing the Scholl and Kowalski, one finds that Scholl takes the opportunity to stroll and allow the words to 'breathe', thus making it more meaningful and reflective, most notably in the adagio "Quis non posset" of the Stabat Mater. Listening to this, it is hard to argue that this is music of aching beauty and it never fails to touch the soul.

The accompaniment of Banchini & Ensemble 415 is flawless and forms a very intimate partnership with Scholl. It's good that they are given the chance to shine in the string works.

All in all, this disc is an amazing achievement and quite deservedly winner of the Gramaphone Baroque Vocal Award for 1996.

Happy Listening! June 10, 2000

Revelatory

The critics are right: this recording is remarkable. This CD has won a Gramophone award, 4f Telerama, 10 Repertoire, and a Diapason d'Or. It has also made the list of the 50 Best Baroque Recordings (BBC Music). Listen: I'm not even a particular fan of Andreas Scholl, but this is one of my most favorite recordings (in a collection that numbers almost 1,000 CD's). Scholl is uniquely suited to the repertory such as this. His angelic voice may not always rise to the occasion in opera (although his performance in Solomon certainly challenges this assumption), but that same angelic voice is always at home in sacred music - blending calm reverence with a hint of emotion, in a manner that is both beautiful and heart-breaking. Listen to his Stabat Mater to know what I mean. Scholl's voice is also quite at home in the secular cantata Cessate Omai Cessate, a cry of unrequited love, albeit more elegaic than passionate. At the surface, this recording, featuring some of the world's most beautiful melodies, is an easy listening (is there a melody more ravishing than Larghetto from Cessate?). But the listening is also revelatory and rewarding because it leads to new layers of meaning and expression on each new listen. gkolomietz@yahoo.com November 27, 1999

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