Conductor:
Gianluigi Gelmetti

Soloists:
Cinzia Forte, soprano
Marina Comparato, mezzo-soprano
Shalva Mukeria, tenor
Gabriele Sagona, bass

Orchestra and choir of Fondazione Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi Trieste

Rossini dedicated himself to composing of church music only after he ceased writing operatic works. The composition Stabat Mater, which is based on a medieval sequence, dedicated to St Mary, was conceived in 1832. Although it is no less important than Rossini’s operas, it should not be evaluated by the same criteria as the German church music tradition. In this case the composer did not use the tonal language that would be, more appropriate for religious texts, since the feel of arias and ensembles, characteristic of his operas is quite present in this comprehensive composition as well. The composer was commissioned to write this piece while travelling in Spain. When he wrote a half of the score, he fell ill, therefore he asked his friend to finish it for him. Due to a set of circumstances it was only a few years later that Rossini replaced the parts that were written by his friend Tadolini with his own music. It was first presented to the public in this form in 1842, in Paris, where it enjoyed enormous success.