Stabat Mater
SIR,—Mr M. B. Thompson (Letters, April 22) does well to praise Anton Dermota's singing on Saga's Rossini Stabat Mater disc. He does not mention, however—perhaps he is not aware, for there is nothing on label or 'sleeve' to tell him—that two cuts, one of twelve bars and one of seven, mar the otherwise excellent 'Cujus animam' movement.
Five further cuts elsewhere in this issue range from an altogether incomprehensible one of two bars (what on earth was gained?) towards the end of the 'Sancta Mater' to one of sixty-one bars earlier in the same movement. Altogether 139 bars are lack- ing, making nonsense of Rossini's conception.
The practice of issuing supposedly 'complete' recordings that leave out large portions of the work
is common at all price levels. Sometimes the decep- ti9n is deliberate: e.g., Decca's St Matthew Passion oi 'Ace of Clubs' is described on the sleeves of all three discs as 'This complete recording of the Bach Choir's traditional performance of the St Matthew Passion . . .,' although a careful check of the numbers listed will reveal that Nos. 11, 21, 65 and 66 are omitted. No scrutiny of the 'small print,' however, will tell the unwary purchaser that fifty-six bars are cut from No. 10, twenty from No. 12, twenty-two from No. 26, 102 from No. 29; five and a half from No. 32, a whole verse from No. 63, and sixteen and three-quarter bars from No. 73, Yet I have heard 'the Bach Choir's traditional per- formance' many times, following it from the score, and do not ever recollect their leaving out one single bar.
Another case for Leslie Adrian to pursue in the interests of 'consumer protection'?
By the way, I heartily endorse the plea for a recording of Rossini's Petite Messe solennelle: when so many minor works are recorded and re-recorded, it is scandalous that no version exists of a major composer's chief sacred work. When it does appear, I hope you find the bass solo 'Quoniam' no less enjoyable than the tenor's `Domine Deus'!
Previous page
