TRACKLISTING

Stabat Mater
1 I Stabat Mater
2 II Cuius animam
3 III Quis et homo
4 IV Pro peccatis
5 V Eia, Mater
6 VI Sancta Mater
7 VII Fac ut portem
8 VIII Inflammatus et accensus
9 IX Quando corpus
10 X Amen, in sempiterna

Barbara Frittoli soprano
Sonia Ganassi mezzo-soprano
Giuseppe Sabbatini tenor
Michele Pertusi bass
Netherlands Radio Choir (chief conductor Martin Wright)
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Riccardo Chailly

RECORDING INFORMATION

Rossini's Stabat Mater stands out as one of the greatest compositions he ever wrote. After having written the epic Guillaume Tell in 1829, he barely composed anything else for the remaining 40 years of his life. This is a piece of astonishing beauty, written in his recognisable lyrical style.

Although Riccardo Chailly has released many acclaimed recordings of Rossinian repertoire on the Decca label, this is the first time he has recorded the Stabat Mater and it is also his first Rossini recording with Amsterdam's Concertgebouw Orchestra.

The distinguished line-up of soloists includes leading Rossinian singers Barbara Frittoli, Sonia Ganassi, Giuseppe Sabbatini and Michele Pertusi, the last a regular partner of Chailly's Rossini recordings.

Stabat Mater was commissioned in 1831, and Rossini took 10 years to complete the work which premiered in Paris in 1842. There was such an ecstatic reaction from the audience at this performance that Donizetti, who conducted the first Italian performance, wrote:
"The enthusiasm is impossible to describe. Even at the first rehearsal, which Rossini attended, in the middle of the day, he was accompanied to his home to the shouting of more than 500 persons."

This is the one of the releases in 2003 to mark the 50th birthday of Riccardo Chailly on 20 February and the 25th anniversary of his association with the Decca label. Also released this month is a new recording of Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn and 5 new Double Decca releases.