BaL 5.04.14 - Vivaldi's Stabat Mater

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30am

Building a Library: 
Caroline Gill with a recommendation from recordings of Vivaldi's beautiful Stabat Mater

Available versions:-
Jakub Burzynski, La Tempesta
Sara Mingardo, Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini
Andreas Scholl, Ensemble 415, Chiara Banchini
Michel Corboz
Marta Benackova, Prague Chamber Choir, Tadeusz Strugala, Francesco Fanua
Bernarda Fink, Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck
Caterina Calvi, Orchestra da Camera, Roberto Gini (download)
Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Concentus Musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
James Bowman, Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
Matthew White, Ensemble Arion, Monica Huggett
Robin Blaze, King’s Consort, Robert King
Catherine Robbin, Les Violons du Roy, Bernard Labadie (download)
Marie Nicole Lemieux, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeanne Lamon
Hollands Boys’ Choir, Netherlands Bach Collegium, Pieter Jan Leusink
Marion Newman, Aradia Ensemble, Kevin Mallon
John Alldis Choir, English Chamber Orchestra, Vittorio Negri (download)
Jochen Kowlski, Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra, Vittorio Negri
Carlos Mena, Ricercar Consort, Philippe Pierlot
The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock
Marita Paprizou, I Solisti Veneti, Claudio Scimone
Ex Cathedra, Jeffrey Skidmore
Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Daniel Taylor, Theatre of Early Music, Daniel Taylor

[Barbirollians]

I am not really generally a fan of the counter tenor voice but I make an exception for Carlos Mena - a wonderful record .

[Pulcinella]

Does this imply that at some future time we might get a BAL on Vivaldi's horrible Stabat Mater, then?

Why does the BBC/R3 always have to tell us what we should think about a piece of music?
Maybe just once they'd let us make up our own mind!

No doubt Honoured Guest will tell us.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Flossie - I think you may have missed Pully's criticism of the Beeb's own blurb as quoted by Alpie: "Vivaldi's beautiful StMater". It is a beautiful work, but there's no need for the Beeb to mention this as if there were an alternative, less beautiful Vivaldi Stabat Mater, or as if this was written on Vivaldi's title page ("My Beautiful Stabat Mater. Not to be confused with that naff one I wrote last year"-sort of thing. It's this unnecessary epithet that is objectionable, not Ms Gill's ultimate choice.


Objections to that will be posted after the programme!

[Pulcinella]

Sorry! I seem to have confused you!
I usually enjoy BAL (depending a little on the format) and indeed am very much looking foward to tomorrow's on Appalachian Spring.
My comment was merely drawing attention to the (IMO) completely unnecessary inclusion of the word 'beautiful'. I have assumed that the first line of the top posting has been cut and pasted from the R3 schedule.
Yes, it is a beatiful work; but I can make my own judgement of that quality without needing to be told.
It's simply another example of the type of gushing response we get from the presenter after just about any live performance these days.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Told you.

[doversoul1]

Does this imply that at some future time we might get a BAL on Vivaldi's horrible Stabat Mater, then?

Why does the BBC/R3 always have to tell us what we should think about a piece of music?
Maybe just once they'd let us make up our own mind!

No doubt Honoured Guest will tell us.

(sorry, it’s only me )
Somebody at BBC/R3 may be looking into this forum. It was unusual in the playlist to have such a subjective adjective though.

19.28pm
with Andrew McGregor, with Building a Library on Vivaldi's Stabat Mater and a round-up of Carlo Maria Giulini reissues

Barbirollians

I am not really generally a fan of the counter tenor voice but I make an exception for Carlos Mena - a wonderful record

I am very fussy about countertenor voice but I too make an exception (one of the few) for Carlos Mena. His recital and CDs are almost always worth catching.

[MickyD]

I'm sure there are plenty of excellent recent versions, but the 1977 Bowman/Hogwood version will always be very special for me, maybe because it was my first introduction to the work. It comes with the Nisi Dominus, too.

[visualnickmos]

I think some of us are reading far too much into what is merely broadcasting 'patter' - after all do you want only a robotic and clinical style of narrative? No - of course we don't. Saying a piece is beautiful is no different from saying something like "Sibelius's rousing Finlandia"

Nothing wrong with a bit of florid commentary - the English language is made for that, and we love it - don't we?

[Flosshilde]

Flossie - I think you may have missed Pully's criticism of the Beeb's own blurb as quoted by Alpie: "Vivaldi's beautiful StMater". It is a beautiful work, but there's no need for the Beeb to mention this as if there were an alternative, less beautiful Vivaldi Stabat Mater, or as if this was written on Vivaldi's title page ("My Beautiful Stabat Mater. Not to be confused with that naff one I wrote last year"-sort of thing. It's this unnecessary epithet that is objectionable, not Ms Gill's ultimate choice.

Oh.

Sincere & grovelling apologies to Pulcinella, & I'll remove my snotty post straight away.

[Pulcinella]

No need to grovel, Flossie!

I still think we can do without florid in this sort of context, though I might be tempted to call Part's Stabat Mater hauntingly beautiful! If I had to choose an SM for my desert island, that would probably be the one. ;-)

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

My comment was merely drawing attention to the (IMO) completely unnecessary inclusion of the word 'beautiful'. I have assumed that the first line of the top posting has been cut and pasted from the R3 schedule.
Yes, it is a beautiful work; but I can make my own judgement of that quality without needing to be told.
It's simply another example of the type of gushing response we get from the presenter after just about any live performance these days.

I must admit that when I copied the description from the Radio 3 website, I had a similar reaction, but left it for others to ponder.

But I feel much the same about weather reporters who make similar judgements. "Fine weather" is a matter of opinion. A hot, dry and still day may be fine for some, but oppressive for others. In India, the torrential rains of the monsoon season are regarded as a good thing. Et cetera...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

...Now 12 replies and no-one has identified any missing versions. This is really shocking, as I deliberately omitted two, not being certain of the performers.

[visualnickmos]

...Now 12 replies and no-one has identified any missing versions. This is really shocking, as I deliberately omitted two, not being certain of the performers.

Awwwww - you are a tease!

[visualnickmos]

OK - florid is "off"!