COMPOSERS: Rossini
LABELS: Decca Double Decca
WORKS: Petite messe solennelle; Stabat mater
PERFORMER: Soloists; Coro Polofonico del Teatro alla Scala/Romano Gandolfi, LSO & Chorus/István Kertész
CATALOGUE NO: 455 023-2 ADD 1980/71
This is the original version of Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, with the singers being accompanied by piano and harmonium. If performances are to succeed either in this form or in Rossini’s reluctantly orchestrated one, they must be of the highest standards. With poor balance, lugubrious direction and an out-of-tune piano, this account merely disappoints. The Stabat mater is eminently more enjoyable and contains many beautiful moments; a few too many, perhaps, as the performers recoil from some of Rossini’s coarser moments. Christopher Dingle
Rossini: Petite messe solennelle; Stabat mater
This is the original version of Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, with the singers being accompanied by piano and harmonium. If performances are to succeed either in this form or in Rossini’s reluctantly orchestrated one, they must be of the highest standards. With poor balance, lugubrious direction and an out-of-tune piano, this account merely disappoints. The Stabat mater is eminently more enjoyable and contains many beautiful moments; a few too many, perhaps, as the performers recoil from some of Rossini’s coarser moments. Christopher Dingle
Our rating
2
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:40 pm