Pergolèse - Vivaldi: Stabat Mater pour 2 castrats by Pergolesi, lr. 16 api. 2022, Noiztik (2022/2022), Zuzendaria Marie Van Rhijn, Chapelle Royale, Versailles, France

Two countertenors for an emblematic work, the Stabat Mater by Pergolesi: it is the resurrection of what was the history of the creation of this work in France, brought by two Castrats from the Royal Chapel of Louis XV! Pergolesi, a few months before his death at the age of twenty-six, received an order for a new Stabat Mater to replace an earlier version, that of Alessandro Scarlatti. Bruised by illness, he expressed the sufferings of the Virgin by mixing the language of the passions specific to opera. The Stabat Mater by Pergolesi, created in 1736, is one of the emblematic works of the Baroque, and profoundly marked the musical world of the 18th century, particularly in France. The Italian Castrati of the Royal Chapel of Versailles (Louis XIV had brought 8 of them from Italy in 1679 for his sacred music) having brought the score themselves from Italy, they were the zealous propagators of it, at the Court of Louis XV as at the Concert Spirituel. Discovering the Stabat of Pergolesi, Paris is on fire and sees in it the revolutionary work of a Neapolitan genius, who unfortunately died so young... The success was undeniable throughout the century. With Vivaldi, the same text of the Stabat Mater gave rise to a virtuoso work, composed in 1712 to be performed in Brescia, and mirroring these Marian complaints, the motet In furore unleashes conflicting passions in a work as dazzling as it is contrasting: behold the fury of divine wrath! To give all its splendor to the sumptuous duet of angelic voices lamenting the pain of Mary at the foot of the Cross, two performers are needed who know how to mix their timbres, like the two Neapolitan castrati for whom this music was composed. The brilliant soprano Samuel Mariño, born in Caracas, brings all the light of South America to a totally youthful voice, almost timeless and which undoubtedly reflects the angelism of some of the castrati of the Vatican, of the Royal Chapel of Naples... or that of Versailles! For this concert at Versailles, he is in duo with Filippo Mineccia, who in a few years has become a charming singer on the Baroque scene, and particularly at Versailles where he shone at the Opera and at the Chapel. Here are two exceptional performers for a program of sensitivity and virtuosity...