Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741)
Sonata ‘al Santo Sepolcro’ in E flat major RV130 [4:20]
Stabat Mater RV621 (1711-12) [19:02]
Giovanni Battista PERGOLESI (1710-1736)
Salve Regina (1735-36) [13:40]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Tilge, Höchster, Meine Sünden (Psalm 51) - transcription of Pergolesi’s
Stabat Mater (c.1741-46) [36:45]
Daniel Taylor (counter-tenor)
Emma Kirkby (soprano) (Bach)
Theatre of Early Music
rec. February 2005, Grand Séminaire, Montreal (Vivaldi, Pergolesi);
February 2006, Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, Montreal (Bach)
BIS BIS-SACD-1546 
[74:50]
A disc as lovely as this should not be overlooked. Vivaldi’s Stabat
Mater has hardly lacked for fine recordings over the years but here we
have a performance of real distinction and allure. The Theatre of Early Music
is a small band - two violins, a viola, cello and bass, with lute and organ
- but its tempo decisions and internal balancing are both exemplary. Articulation
is crisp - note the cleanly articulated cello line - and the timbral qualities
of the string are auspicious. Rhythms are buoyant, and the expressive qualities
of the music are held in fine balance. To turn to specifics, the Quis est
homo is rendered with delicate refinement, a legato melsima of real eloquence.
Daniel Taylor evinces no sense of forcing his counter tenor, and no glorying
in its very obvious qualities for the sake of it; some other counter tenors
should take note. The tempo for the slow Fac ut ardeat is judged to
perfection, with its sense of motion ensuring that the textual meaning is perfectly
conveyed. I suppose that Scholl [HMC 801571] and Robin Blaze [Hyperion
CDA66799] are the two outstanding contenders in this work at the moment. Taylor
most closely resembles Blaze in ethos, though I prefer the newcomer’s
performance all round. Scholl’s is a more extrovert performance, fine,
if you prefer to shy away from the more veiled intimacies that Taylor explores.
Pergolesi’s compact Salve Regina again evinces strongly meditative
qualities in this performance, so those seeking more fulsome, or speedier virtues
will need to seek elsewhere. It’s difficult to ensure a good balance
in the lento movement Ad te suspiramus but Taylor and his forces manage
it well. The last work is a curiosity, hyphenated Bach-Pergolesi, as it were.
This is a transcription by Bach of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and
was made some time around 1746-48, a good while after the Italian composer’s
early 1736 death. Bach added extra instrumental lines, added to the bass
continuo, and even added movements, rendering the text in a German translation. Here
Taylor is joined by Emma Kirkby and their rapport is obvious, the voices well
blended, and as before the reflective sense of the chosen tempi conveys a great
deal. It’s a very natural, unforced performance with no extraneous gestures,
vocal or instrumental, to distract. Verse 4 - Dich erzürnt - is
especially finely conceived but it’s invidious to select highlights.
The depth and pathos (try Denn du willst (verses 17-18)) are everywhere
apparent.
The purely instrumental Sonata ‘al Santo Sepolcro’ by Vivaldi
serves as the disc’s opening item - an Easter movement chosen with acumen
and played with tactile excellence by the string players.
With a natural and sympathetic recording and helpful booklet notes this reflective
disc brings impressive and sensitive qualities to bear, and should on no account
be overlooked.
Jonathan Woolf