Antonio Vivaldi
About the composer
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741) was probably born in Venice, Italy. The priest Vivaldi, in view of his wild red hair often called “the red priest” (Il Preto Rosso), worked the largest part of his life as a music master at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, originally an orphanage for extra-marital girls. For an important part this may not only have influenced the score of his works (there were only women to play and sing), but could also be the reason for the fact that he frequently made use of easy to listen to melodies, as these were mostly intended for a young female audience. His most famous work, of course, is Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons). He died in Vienna, during one of his journeys. The first movement of Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater has been used in the soundtrack of the movie “The talented Mr.Ripley”.
About the Stabat Mater
| Date: | ca. 1727 |
| Performers: | Alto, strings and continuo |
| Length: | CD 1: 21.21 minutes, CD 2: 18.37 minutes and CD 3: 18.30 minutes |
| Particulars: | The composition is divided into eight sections. The melodies of sections 1 to 3 are repeated in sections 4 to 6. For me, this Stabat Mater is one of the most beautiful ever composed. The singers in the first two registrations that I possess differ greatly with respect to their voices, but both sing marvelous. You should hear them both! |
| Textual variations: | Only the first ten stanzas are used. It seems that for some time shorter versions of the Stabat Mater were used as a hymn for Vespers for the Friday after Holy Week |
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Information about the recording
| CD1: | EMI Classics 7243565845 2 (2 CD’s) Stabat Mater |
| More info: | Five completely different settings of the Stabat Mater. A “must” for every collector, especially as it has the only performance of Schubert’s Stabat Mater D.175. The Stabat Maters were recorded in 1982/83. Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater is performed here by one of the most highly regarded Dutch singers. |
| Orchestra: | Les Solistes de Milan |
| Conductor: | Angelo Ephrikian |
| Soloists: | Aafje Heynis, alto |
| Other works: | Franz Schubert: Stabat Maters D.175 and D.383 |
| Code: | SCH-04 |
| CD2: | Harmonia Mundi HMC 901571: Vivaldi, Stabat Mater |
| More info: | An interpretation by a singer who is generally regarded as one of the worlds greatest countertenors. Recorded in June 1995. |
| Orchestra: | Ensemble 415 |
| Conductor: | Chiara Banchini |
| Soloists: | Andreas Scholl, countertenor |
| Other works: | Concerto ripieno in C major, RV 114 |
| Code: | 1996 VIV-04 |
| CD3: | Naïve OP 30453 Vivaldi |
| More info: | I received This cd fom my friend Daisy Mottier from Switzerland. I met her because of her interesting project Painting – Music Dialogues . |
| Orchestra: | Ensemble Mattheus |
| Conductor: | Jean Christoph Spinosi |
| Soloists: | Marie Nicole Lemieux |
| Other works: | Vivaldi: Nisi Dominus, Crucifixus (from the Credo) |
| Code: | 2013 VIV-13 |
