Morandi's Naxos recording of Verdi's Requiem and Four Sacred Pieces (1/98) received a number of rave reviews, so it is not surprising that the company has returned to him and his team (only the soprano and tenor are different) to see if they can repeat the success with Rossini's Stabat mater.
The work is billed on the back of the CD as being 'operatic and highly original', 'a popular expression of Mediterranean belief in life and faith'; and that, in spirit, is what Morandi seems concerned to reproduce. The conducting is bold and warm-hearted, the soloists accomplished, the recording generous. High points of the performance include an epic rendering of the 'Pro peccatis' by the bass Carlo Colombara (he even attempts the trill, something avoided by most basses post-Plancon) and a predictably exciting account of the 'Inflammatus'.
Unfortunately, the Stabat mater is not - pace received opinion - an essentially 'operatic' work. Any conductor or producer who thinks it is runs a number of risks, prime among which is that of engaging an opera-house chorus rather than a specialist choir to deal with the work's a cappella interludes and its difficult final movement. Morandi draws expressive singing from the Hungarian State Opera Chorus in slower, quieter music; elsewhere, the singing is no match for the choral work on rival full-price versions under conductors such as Hickox and Creed.
The accompanying booklet-essay is well intentioned but sadly misinformed in places. Yet, despite these limitations, the new CD does give value for money. Until now, collectable budget-price recordings of the Stabat mater have been as scarce as hen's teeth.'