Pergolesi, the composer, suffered from weak health as a child, possibly with a deformity and a limp, likely of tubercular origin.
Composition History
Pergolesi's Stabat Mater and his cantata da camera Orfeo were both written in the last months of his life, while he resided in a Franciscan monastery at Pozzuoli due to deteriorating health.
Composer Biography
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, the composer, was born in 1710 in Iesi and was known by the family name derived from his great-grandfather's place of origin, Pergola.
Cultural Impact
Pergolesi's Stabat Mater had exceptionally wide circulation, including publication in London in 1749 and an adaptation by Johann Sebastian Bach, and remains his most often heard composition.
Critical Reception
Pergolesi's opera La serva padrona achieved enormous success, and its 1752 staging in Paris sparked the Querelle des Bouffons, a debate between Italian and French operatic schools.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded at the Festetich Castle in Budapest in September 1994.
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