Concert spirituel on the hour of Jesus' death

Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
"Concerto grosso" No.1 in F minor for string quartet
and harpsichord
"Stabat Mater" for soprano, alto, violins and continuo

Ilia Staple, soprano

Fiona Mantovan, alto
Enamore Quartet
Yoko Takahashi, harpsichord
Christian Schmidbauer, conductor

Alessandro Scarlatti was an Italian Baroque composer of the Neapolitan school, who is particularly famous for his vocal music (especially operas, oratorios and cantatas).
and cantatas). When he wrote the "Concerto grosso" in F minor, Scarlatti was already a successful opera composer. He masterfully blends the dignified elegance of Arcangelo Corelli with his own experience in vocal music, and the work presents itself as a varied kaleidoscope of late Baroque instrumental music.

His "Stabat Mater" was commissioned by the Franciscan order "Knights of Our Lady of Sorrows" in Naples in 1724 for Lent. The underlying sequence is a liturgical text from the 13th century that meditates on the suffering of Mary, the mother of Christ. It impresses with its extraordinary musical richness, variety of forms, chromatic freedom and flexibility of expression.

Another musical rarity for the 40th Concert Spirituel on Good Friday in the Ursuline Church in Linz.