Faith Through Beauty

Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques are responsible for this beautiful disk which also highlights counter tenor Andreas Scholl and soprano Barbara Bonney. The music is by Pergolesi, his setting of the Stabat Mater which is probably his best known work and two settings of Salve Regina. Pergolesi is just about the shortest lived of notable composers, dying aged only 26 in 1736. He spent his short working life in Naples and Rome but after his death, appreciation of the music he had produced spread among Italianophiles in France, Spain and England. This led to some unscrupulous publishers misattributing the work of others to Pergolesi but these works are indisputably his. There is a sweetness and warmth to these sacred settings and the voices of Scholl and Bonney blend perfectly in the Stabat Mater, where they also shine in the solo parts. Scholl sings one of the versions of Salve Regina in F minor while the setting in A minor is sung by Bonney alone. Both bring a sense of luminescence to their parts. Les Talens Lyriques show great taste and sensitivity in their interpretations of the music which is a demonstration of the idea prevalent at the time of showing faith through beauty.