Agostino Steffani (1654-1728) takes a central role in the musical life at the court of Duke Ernest Augustus in Hanover. Besides his roles as diplomat and bishop, he presided over the international opera centre in Hanover and influenced some of the most important composers of his time with his oevre. This recording combines the first printed work by Steffani, the Psalmodia vespertina (1674) with one of his last works, the Stabat Mater which has been published posthumously. All psalms are for double choir and organ, in this recording, they are presented in a fuller instrumentation with strings and winds together with a combination of solos and tuttis. The writing is almost always homophonic, in constant dialogue between the two choirs. However, there are moments of great rhetorical effectivenes. With the Stabat Mater, Steffani demonstrates a skill that is in no way inferior to that which he exercised in court life and in his career as a diplomat, statesman, and clergyman of the highest rank: Mediating between opposing styles.
Title: „Agostino Steffani – Psalmodia vespertina – Stabat Mater“
Artists: Kerstin Dietl, Franz Vitzthum, Daniel Schreiber, Thilo Dahlmann
la festa musicale – Collegium Vocale Hannover
Florian Lohmann (direction)
Catalogue number: arc 24055
UPC/EAN: 4260412810550