I thought Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle was more operatic than sacred, but I didn't know the Stabat Mater at the time. If you listen to the music with your eyes closed and without having seen the title, you would indeed think you were hearing a dramatic opera. Not that I have a problem with that - I have no preference for either church or theater (and the church, with its ritual, is also a form of theater).
In his time (the 1820s), Gioachino Rossini (1792 - 1868) was more famous and popular than Beethoven, and his 39 operas, which set new standards, made him wealthy enough to retire comfortably in 1830 (at age 38!), at the height of his popularity (intermittent poor health may also have played a role in his decision to retire). In his retirement, he composed only a few songs, chamber music and sacred music. Rossini spent the last years of his life in Paris, where he and his wife established a salon that became internationally famous. These musical salons were regularly attended by musicians and the artistic and fashionable circles of Paris.
The Stabat Mater has a somewhat checkered history. Rossini was commissioned to compose the Stabat Mater in 1831 by the Spanish councilor of state and theologian Manuel Fernández Varela. As Rossini fell ill during the composition, but the commissioner insisted on the completion of the work, Rossini asked his pupil Giovanni Tadolini to fill in some missing numbers. This mixed version was premiered on Good Friday, 1833, at the Convento de San Felipe el Real in Madrid. Fernández Varela never learned that the work he heard was not entirely from Rossini's pen.
After Fernández Varela's death, Rossini returned to the work sometime between 1838 and 1841, replacing Tadolini's parts with newly composed contributions of his own. This led to several lawsuits over who owned the copyright and publishing rights, but Rossini eventually won. His revised version was first performed at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris on January 7, 1842. The first Italian performances in Bologna were conducted, at Rossini's request, by his younger colleague Gaetano Donizetti. In both Paris and Bologna, the enthusiasm with which the public greeted Rossini's new work is indescribable. "Rossini's name was shouted amidst the applause. The whole work carried the audience; the triumph was complete. Three numbers had to be repeated...and the audience left the theater moved and overcome with admiration...".
Critics, especially in northwestern Europe, criticized the work as "too worldly, too sensual, too playful for the religious theme," but others countered with the view that "religion in the South is a very different thing from what it is in the North."
The operatic highlight of the work is undoubtedly the second part, "Cuius animam," with its rollicking and memorable melody, which is a true demonstration of the tenor's bravura technique. I really enjoyed Rossini's Stabat Mater - more than I enjoy his operas!
Listen to: hr-Sinfonieorchester ∙ Solisten ∙ MDR Rundfunkchor ∙ Andrés Orozco-Estrada, at the Rheingau Musik Festival 2015 in Kloster Eberbach (a very energetic performance!).
Choral Masterworks