Record of the month: Sacro furore
Carlo Vistoli, countertenor
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Georg Kallweit, concertmaster
harmonia mundi HMM902383
It's an exciting and bold statement to release such a well-explored programme, a move which invites multiple comparisons, and in this case they're all extremely favourable. Carlo Vistoli isn't quite a new-kid-on-the-block - he's a well-established Handelian too - but ever since Cavalli's Xerse (September 2023) I've rather hoped a solo recital album like this might appear. So to hear him performing with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin in an all-Vivaldi programme on Harmonia mundi is ideal way to enjoy this remarkable singer and to get to know his artistry better.
There are good reasons why countertenors gravitate towards this pairing of Vivaldi's famous Nisi Dominus and Stabat Mater, not only are they super music but they're also richly expressive vehicles which don't demand extremes of range but rather require an intense direction to the phrases and passionate clarity of text. From James Bowman's confident, trendsetting account with the Academy of Ancient Music / Christopher Hogwood on Decca (2/77) to the crystal clear, intense rendering of the Stabat Mater from Andreas Scholl with Ensemble 415 / Chiara Banchini (11/96) this music clearly lends itself to a wide variety of interpretations. And Vistoli's new addition is quite a standout. Not for him the conservative piety of those of us who grew up in a choral tradition, he's got a much larger - dare I say operatic - canvass on which to paint these cantatas and the overall effect while variously gripping and demanding is always beautiful. Perhaps it's time for a countertenor fach system to better describe all these approaches.
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