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"
| Date | ± 1727 |
| Performers | Alto, strings and continuo |
| Length | 21.21 minutes (CD 1) and 18.37 minutes (CD 2) |
| 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 two registrations that I possess differ greatly with respect to their voices, but both sing marvelous. You should here 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 |
| CD 1 | EMI Classics 7243 5 65845 2 (2 CD's) Stabat Mater |
| About this CD | 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 Gioacchino Rossini: Stabat Mater Giuseppe Verdi: Stabat Mater |
| Added | Unknown (SCH 04) |
| CD 2 | Harmonia Mundi HMC 901571: Vivaldi, Stabat Mater |
| About this CD | 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 Cantate "Cessate, omai cessate" RV 684 Sonata a quatro "Al Santo Sepulcro" RV 130 Introduzione al miserere "Filiae Maestae Jerusalem" RV 638 |
| Added | 1996 (VIV 04) |
E-mail:
stabatmater@dds.nl