PERGOLESI Stabat Mater VIVALDI Nisi Dominus
Pergolesi: Stabat Mater & Vivaldi: Nisi Dominus Shira Patchornik (soprano), Maarten Engeltjes (counter-tenor), Prjct Amsterdam PTC5187053 […] Engeltjes and soprano Shira Patchornik are well matched in tone and temperament, both sensitive and responsive to the text. Overall they favour brisk tempos with delicate quicksilver gestures but thankfully they never allow the music to become frenetic. Their sound is less operatic than Alessandrini’s thrilling account with Concerto Italiano; if anything PRJCT Amsterdam belong to that profoundly reflective but fresh continuum of interpretations initiated by Hogwood’s Academy of Ancient Music, and indeed Engeltjes has admirable Bowman-esque qualities at several key moments. I particularly like his mini cadenza on ‘lacrimosa’ in the first movement, and both singers have heart-stopping long notes in the fifth movement, ‘Quis es homo’. The orchestra are superb accompanists, often setting scenes with striking moods and then operating subtly but pe
