“This is a recording that belongs in the collection of any lover of Italian music, the baroque, or the sublime moments in music that embody God’s creation.”
Our wonderful Managing Director – Sean Hickey – recommends Pergolesi: Stabat Mater – Vivaldi: Nisi Dominus by PRJCT Amsterdam, Maarten Engeltjes and Shira Patchornik (released in March 2024).
“Though it was a long time ago, I still recall first hearing Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in a suburban Detroit church. To me, there is nothing more moving in all of the vast baroque repertoire than this seminal work that of course centers on the mother’s tears. These may well have been shed not long after the composer finished the work. The Neopolitan Pergolesi died almost immediately afterward, at age 26.
I happen to be very particular in my tastes toward the recordings of this piece. Maarten Engeltjes and PRJCT Amsterdam provide a vivid and moving account of the work, at times both sorrowful and joyous, with clear, bell-like voices and shimmering textures. The weaving of the two voices of Engeltjes and Shira Pachornik in the beginning, or incipit, contain some of the most moving moments of 18th century music, and it’s often difficult to discern where the countertenor voice leads off and the soprano begins, only to revert. The same forces supply an impassioned recording of Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus and make a good case why it belongs alongside its better-known counterpart. The Gloria Patri is especially moving.
Sean Hickey, Managing Director
This is a recording that belongs in the collection of any lover of Italian music, the baroque, or the sublime moments in music that embody God’s creation.”
