Pergolesi composed his Stabat mater in 1735 during his final illness. It was created to supplant Alessandro Scarlatti’s setting, performed every year on the Friday before Palm Sunday at the Franciscan church of San Luigi in Naples. There are recordings available which cater for every taste – brisk theatricality (Rousset on Decca, 12/99), chamber-scale intimacy (King on Hyperion, 11/88) or minimal but passionate (Alessandrini on Naïve, 12/04). This new version does not have all the answers but it does make a commendable contribution to the discography. An orchestral interlude by Durante (Pergolesi’s teacher) has sonorous depth and sincerity. It serves as a vital aperitif before Pergolesi’s Salve regina, in which Carlos Mena’s quivering timbre is vulnerable. The resonant instrumentalists occasionally drown him out. I am more convinced by Mena’s darker tones in the Stabat mater, although he seems breathless and hasty in ‘Quae moerebat’: the chirpy and quick mood is not an ideal interpretation of ‘silent, ceaseless mourning’. Nuria Rial’s clean-toned singing in ‘Vidit suum’ has impressive control, clarity and profound expression. The two voices blend effectively in ‘Quis est homo’. ‘Inflammatus et accensus’ seems a touch nonchalant, although the extreme contrast with a very slow ‘Quando corpus’ magnifies the range of affects. Some aspects are superbly judged: several ritornelli are perfectly weighted and the Ricercar Consort play with sensual warmth – a sensation encouraged by a larger body of strings than is used in some performances.