Classic CD review: Vivaldi: Pieta, Elina Garanca: Meditation

Vivaldi: Pieta, Elina Garanca: Meditation.

There is no place for the religiosos in Pieta, Philippe Jaroussky's uplifting new collection of Vivaldi's sacred music. Even in the elegiac Stabat Mater, the Italian composer retains a grace and airiness, well conveyed by Ensemble Artaserse, accompanying and directed by one of the world's most elegant and accomplished counter-tenors.

Jarousky has chosen his material carefully: an aria from the well-known Gloria, five minutes of Concerto Grosso for his small, expert orchestra and five solo motets.

All of which adds up to just under 80 minutes, and there is a bonus DVD in which the singer gives us a sprightly and informative tour of Venice, interspersed with musical performances. Tourists wandering in fast motion to a purposeful Allegro and shots of a soulful Jaroussky gazing from his gondola are minor irritations.

There is much serenity in this music, perfect for a singer of unblemished tone and vocal agility, two of Jaroussky's prime virtues. Regular outbursts of musical fireworks remind one that this is, after all, from the pen of the man who gave us The Four Seasons.

Beauty is not skin deep here, but penetrates deep into the soul in a setting of Salve Regina. A plea from the children of Eve in exile, sighing, moaning and weeping in their Valley of Tears - this provides the perfect inspiration for Vivaldi's expressive writing and is the highlight of a most enterprising release.

Meditation, from the fine Latvian mezzo Elina Garanca, is more frankly commercial.

An arrangement of Allegri's Miserere and a rapturously sung Laudate Dominum from Mozart's Vespers solonelle de confessione are the only concessions to life before the 19th century -- that is unless we count a middle-of-the-road rehashing of an Ave Maria attributed to Caccini.

Other disappointments include having the Latvian composer Peteris Vasks being represented by two choral offerings, respectably delivered by the Latvian Radio Choir.

Finally, while I can cope with the sentimental Sanctus from Gounod's Saint Cecilia Mass, mainly through it being unforgettably used in Werner Herzog's 1979 film, Nosferatu, a line has be drawn at the saccharine excesses of William Gomez's Ave Maria.

Vivaldi: Pieta
(Erato, through Ode)

Elina Garanca: Meditation
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Verdict:

Two singers search for soul and the spiritual, with mixed results.