Pergolesi and Scarlatti on the border between theatre and church

Did Pergolesi write his renowned Stabat Mater on his deathbed, like Mozart his Requiem? Giulio Prandi and his Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri juxtapose this music with the work of Pergolesi's masterful fellow townsman Alessandro Scarlatti.

Pergolesi's Stabat Mater: a 'classic

Despite his short life, the Neapolitan Giovanni Battista Pergolesi wrote himself into music history with several masterpieces. His setting of the Stabat Mater is an indestructible classic and (therefore?) the subject of many a persistent myth. For instance, the composer, in a remarkable foreshadowing of Mozart's struggle with his Requiem, is said to have worked feverishly on the score until his death bed. In any case, thanks to a touch of operatic drama, daring harmonies and an exquisite balance between melancholy and bliss, the work enjoyed great acclaim from the very beginning.

Scarlatti's mass for the patron saint of music

Ten years before Pergolesi, his fellow townsman Alessandro Scarlatti had also made a remarkable contribution to the Stabat Mater repertoire. That the star of Neapolitan opera was also skilled in religious genres is sometimes overlooked. A large part of this oeuvre is terra incognita for performers and audiences alike. The Messa di Santa Cecilia, dedicated to the patron saint of music, tastes like more: an exciting mix of counterpoint in 'stile antico' with glowing high baroque!