Vivaldi has served these artists and Naïve very well in recent years, but this disc is somewhat unexpected. The label’s Vivaldi Edition (of which this is not a part) already has outstanding and Stabat mater (both by Sara Mingardo). Furthermore, Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux has made an excellent recording of Stabat mater with Tafelmusik that is only surpassed by a few versions (see “Collection”, 10/07). The booklet-note has the main protagonists telling us how great this recording is. I would rather have been left to make up my own mind whether having a male countertenor perform Nisi Dominus and a female contralto singing Stabat mater on the same disc for probably the first time is of any real consequence.

Jean-Christophe Spinosi and his band play with a strong sense of drama, but Nisi Dominus is a curate’s egg. As with most previous recordings by Jaroussky and Spinosi, the most impressive moments are the breathtaking slower music (“Cum dederit delectis suis somnum” is gorgeously still, and Spinosi contributes an impressively tender viola d’amore solo in “Gloria Patri”). However, the biting swiftness of the opening movement and its recapitulation later on are unconvincing. These musicians are talented enough to perform it in a clipped, really fast way, but that does not justify the loss of communicative eloquence.

Lemieux’s Stabat mater, on the other hand, is deeply emotive, and its more expansive moments are finely judged. Spinosi’s approach sounds preconceived and mannered compared to the more natural accompaniment Lemieux received from Tafelmusik, and her “Eja mater, fons amoris” is a bit too hammed up for my taste, but overall this performance is admirable.