This is a shrewd pairing of generally impressive recordings of Rossini’s two great – but very different – choral works. Muti’s 1981 Florence recording of the Stabat mater first appeared on CD in 1987 when I seem to remember I was rather rude about the recording. An aberrant mood, different equipment, or fresh mastering? Whatever the reason, I am now inclined to think it rather fine! Muti paints the work in glowing colours and directs it grandly (not to say grandiloquently) and with much passion. The spaces of the Palazzo Vecchio are aglow with sound; I especially like the way the chorus are set relatively far back, diffusing the sonorities. This may not make for absolutely clear detailing of each and every note but it creates a wonderful atmosphere. As Richard Strauss once said in another context: “Gentlemen, I can hear notes. Please give me an impression of the music!”
At the time the recording was made, tenors were falling like flies and both this and the rival Giulini recording (DG, 9/83) had to accept last-minute substitutions, neither of which was ideal. Robert Gambill is adequate, but he is not in the Malfitano, Baltsa or Gwynne Howell class. (EMI leave Gambill’s name off the CD cover, and Howell’s. If I were Howell, I would sue. His performance is one of the set’s obvious glories.)
The King’s, Cambridge recording of the Petite messe solennelle has long been one of the most successful versions of this rare and wonderful but not especially lucky work on record. Rossini would have blenched at the thought of his Messe being sung by boys’ voices (“sour and out of tune”) but not these boys’ voices. The King’s boys sing sublimely, and how Rossini would have loved the Labeque sisters. Again, alas, there are some problems with the soloists. Gedda is past his best and Kavrakos is a rather unwieldy Rossini singer. Lucia Popp is fine, and so is Brigitte Fassbaender, though Fassbaender was even finer on the great and much missed Sawallisch recording (Eurodisc, 10/73 – nla).
The two works would normally spread across three CDs. To have them on two CDs, and at mid price, is a great boon. Neither performance is perfect, but what performances of these works are? Cleobury’s refinement and Muti’s passion are well matched and contrasted in this sensible and economical new coupling.'