Peter Herwitz asks:

> Can anyone reccomend a great recording of the Pergolesi Stabat Mater?
> I have Raskin/Lehane,Caracciolo and Roschmann/Robbin, Labadie and like
> them both for different reasons but suspect I can do better.  Thanks in
> advance for your reccomendations.

The Raskin/Lehane/Caracciolo is a classic, mostly for the
soloists. It is, however, a pre-HIP, reduced-modern-forces account.
Roschmann/Robbin/Labadie is fine HIP, but again, mainly for the soloists.
What do *you* like about these accounts?  What dissatisfies you?

I'm also drawn to the Fisher/Chance/King version on Hyperion, but I've
loved everything I've ever heard by King.  Some might be put off by the
timbre of Michael Chance's countertenor rather than of the usual mezzo,
but to me he sings so beautifully that it seems petty to begrudge him.
King to me is a great musician and achieves a marvelous unity between
singers and instrumentalists.

On a slightly lower plane, the reduced-modern-forces Ziegler/Gasdia/Scimone
is certainly worthy of anybody's time.  Scimone has been a woefully
underrated conductor, in my opinion.

Steve Schwartz

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