So this arrived on monday. It has taken four listenings to date.
First thing to note as 'an outsider' is that I found the sleeve notes of Alessandrini very interesting and actually neccessary. He gives what for me was a very important contextual insight regarding the position/role of 'sacred' music in the baroque period :
Why was this important? My own 'contemporary' expectations/prejudices of what sacred music might sound/feel like were standing as a significant barrier to my enjoyment of what is actually presented i.e. when expectations were not matched I was inclined to think 'well that's not for me' or 'I don't get it'. or even harsher judgements!
The context painted in the notes and its relationship to what I was hearing made sense and 'opened ' the music to me , or me to the music...
I very much enjoy the voice of Ms Mingardo, and the Stabat Mater itself is exquisite, but it does take quite a few listening sessions for me to start to appreciate the depths of what's 'going on' in the music.
It is also very interesting to compare the versions of 'Clarae stellae..' on this recording and the Scholl recording mentioned above. VERY different indeed to my ears and so maybe
I am starting to see the reason why you afficianados have more than one recording of a particular work. DOH !!
General comment is that it takes me time and concentrated listening (definitely not background listening) to facilitate engagement with the music.
My next candidate is :
again reccommended to me by mon ami. Not easy to find at a reduced price (at least on Amazon) but I will continue with Vivaldi a little further for now.
