Composer: Antonín Dvořák
Performer: Erin Wall, Mihoko Fujimara, Christian Elsner, Liang Li, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Orchestra: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Conductor: Mariss Jansons
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BR Klassik
Catalogue: 900142
Release: 2015
Size: 745 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Stabat Mater, Op. 58
01. No. 1, Stabat mater dolorosa
02. No. 2, Quis est homo?
03. No. 3, Eia, mater
04. No. 4, Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
05. No. 5, Tui nati vulnerati
06. No. 6, Fac me tecum flere
07. No. 7, Virgo virginum praeclara
08. No. 8, Fac, ut portem Christi mortem
09. No. 9, Inflammatus et accensus
10. No. 10, Quando Corpus Morietur
Antonín Dvorák’s Stabat Mater, Op. 58, written in the aftermath of the deaths of three of his children, is a sober and powerful work, inexplicably neglected and unlike any other work of choral music from the 19th century. Perhaps most performances don’t capture its full weight, but this live recording from the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Mariss Jansons, does so. There are many deep pleasures here. The orchestra’s choir is extraordinary: rich yet without a hint of wobble and utterly clear in its sense of the text. Jansons keeps things at a deliberate pace that lets the music breathe and the currents of personal experience rise to the surface. The soloists, none terribly well known, are fine in their individual numbers, but absolutely transcendent in ensembles, nowhere more so that in the sublime “Quando corpus morietur” finale (track 10); there are a couple of other strong recordings of this work, but it seems likely that no one has ever matched this conclusion. The live recording from the Herkulessaal in Munich is impressively transparent and faithful to the spontaneity of the event. A superb Dvorák release.