Commissioned to Pergolesi in 1735, a few months before his premature death occurring at the age of just 26, the Stabat Mater has enjoyed a degree of notoriety over the centuries thanks to that legendary mystique that envelops the last works of those young geniuses that suffer an untimely demise.

In the intentions of the contractor, the confraternity of the Cavalieri della Vergine dei Dolori di San Luigi al Palazzo, the composition was supposed to replace the previous version, commissioned to Alessandro Scarlatti 20 years before.

In truth if, with regard to the instrumentation, for strings and basso continuo, and the structure that, as was habitual in the XIII century, subdivides the sequence in a series of duets and solo arias for the soprano and the contralto, the authors’ attention for Scarlatti’s score is evident, the Pergolesi version differs from it because it is more concise and compact, containing 6 numbers less than the previous version, and more importantly, for the novelties of  harmonic and melodic conceptions up to date with the contemporary musical tendencies of the Neapolitan and European schools.

The present live recording of the Stabat Mater, performed in the Aula Grande of the Mercati di Traiano, is the result of a long and painstaking research on the authors’ manuscript by M° Ambrosini followed by an accurate concertation with the instrumental ensemble and the soloists, with the aim of restoring the score with the authors’ original intentions.

Audio tracks

Recorded

Mercati di Traiano
Rome, February 27th 2013

Alessandra Maniccia, Soprano

Anna Maria Formicola, Alto

Lucio Del Vescovo, Basso continuo