Haydn, Joseph - Stabat Mater - Rene Jacobs
- Product Code: PTC5186953
René Jacobs performs Joseph Haydn's Stabat Mater together with the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the Zurich Singing Academy, and an outstanding quartet of vocal soloists (Birgitte Christensen, Kristina Hammarström, Steve Davislim, and Christian Immler). With this recording, Jacobs finally returns to a composer he holds dear and offers his first vocal album on Pentatone after his acclaimed interpretations of Schubert's complete symphonies. In setting the text describing the most tragic event in Christ's life to music, Haydn manages to strike a balance between dramatic pathos and expression and a more restrained, distant description that suits his classical aesthetic. Originally composed in 1767, the recording uses the 1803 edition, with an expanded wind orchestra created with the assistance of Haydn's apprentice Sigismund Neukomm, making the work even more dramatic and colorful. Jacobs and his musicians and singers demonstrate excellent stylistic sensitivity and drama in this remarkable performance. Award-winning conductor René Jacobs is one of the most important representatives of historically informed performance practice. Haydn's Stabat Mater is his fifth Pentatone album after his complete cycle of Schubert symphonies, released between 2018 and 2021. The Kammerorchester Basel, Zürcher Sing-Akademie, Birgitte Christensen, Kristina Hammarström, Steve Davislim, and Christian Immler all make their Pentatone debut.
