Those looking for a recording of the Stabat mater settings of either
Domenico Scarlatti
or
Antonín Dvo¿ák
, or both, should look elsewhere, for this release by conductor
Simon-Pierre Bestion
and his ensemble
La Tempête
is about something else. But what, exactly?
Bestion
says that he "could trace a really subtle link between the two pieces -- a link more aesthetic and metaphysical than scientific -- that proves them to be a single whole." Whatever this may mean, exactly,
takes extreme measures in pursuit of the link. Both works are arranged by
, the
Dvo¿ák
rather radically; this arrangement seems to be based on a piano version made by the composer, with strings added back in. The idea is to bring the two works closer together in their basic forces. Instead of being presented sequentially, the two works are mixed together, and as if this were not enough, two movements of the
are omitted. Listeners will have to decide for themselves whether
's subtle link exists, and whether it is applicable to these two works more than to other sacred works separated by a century and a half, but it is worth noting that nobody else has attempted anything remotely like this, and that the thing is listenable. Both of these have to count for something. ~ James Manheim