Rossini: Stabat Mater Agresta, Barcellona, Barbera, Lepore, Wiener Singverein, Orchestre Philharmonique Du Luxembourg & Gustavo Gimeno

• Gioacchino Rossini (1792 - 1868): Stabat Mater:
• 1 Rossini: Stabat Mater: I. Introduzione "Stabat Mater dolorosa". Andante moderato 09:17
• 2 Rossini: Stabat Mater: II. Aria "Cujus animam gementem". Allegretto maestoso 05:55
• 3 Rossini: Stabat Mater: III. Duetto "Quis est homo". Largo 06:29
• 4 Rossini: Stabat Mater: IV. Aria "Pro peccatis". Allegretto maestoso 04:15
• 5 Rossini: Stabat Mater: V. Coro e Recitativo "Eja, Mater". Andante mosso 04:17
• 6 Rossini: Stabat Mater: VI. Quartetto "Sancta Mater". Allegretto moderato 06:49
• 7 Rossini: Stabat Mater: VII. Cavatina "Fac ut portem". Andante grazioso 04:28
• 8 Rossini: Stabat Mater: VIII. Aria e Coro "Inflammatus". Andante maestoso 04:37
• 9 Rossini: Stabat Mater: IX. Quartetto "Quando corpus morietur". Andante 04:16
• 10 Rossini: Stabat Mater: X. Finale "In sempiterna sæcula". Allegro 05:55
• Total Runtime 56:18

Info for Rossini: Stabat Mater

For their first recording with harmonia mundi, Gustavo Gimeno and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg revisit Rossini’s famous Stabat Mater. This work, composed after the premature end of his career in the theatre, has sometimes been criticised for its exuberance and operatic vocal writing. But that is also what makes it a unique and spellbinding work. The team assembled for this recording has perfectly understood this, and dares to present a reading that is as moving as it is exhilarating!

Maria Agresta, soprano
Daniela Barcellona, mezzo-soprano
René Barbera, tenor
Carlo Lepore, bass
Wiener Singverein
Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg
Gustavo Gimeno, direction

Maria Agresta
Winner of several music competitions, she made her debut in 2007.

Her success came after a few years, in 2011, when she performed I Vespri Siciliani at Teatro Regio in Turin conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, with great reviews from public and critics. Since then, she has been invited to sing on the most important stages worldwide.

Highlights include Norma in Tel Aviv, La Bohème (Mimì) at Arena di Verona, in Munich, at San Carlo in Naples, at Teatro Regio in Turin and at Festival Puccini in Torre del Lago, Gemma di Vergy at Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, Elvira in Don Giovanni at La Scala.

She then sang Il Trovatore in Valencia conduted by M° Zubin Mehta, Carmen in Masada and La Traviata at Berlin Staatsoper.

In 2012 she returned to La Scala with La Bohème, where she obtained a big personal success.

She was higly praised for her performance in the concert version of Giovanna d’Arco at Musikverein in Graz with ORT and she sang Simon Boccanegra in Rome with M° Muti, I Masnadieri and La Bohème in Venice, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at San Carlo in Naples with M° Luisotti and at Staatsoper in Berlin conducted by M° Baremboim, Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio at La Scala, Otello in Valencia with M° Mehta, La Vestale in Dresden.

She performed La Traviata at Arena di Verona and in Guangzhou, Otello in Zurich and Genoa, a new production of I Puritani at Opéra Bastille in Paris, Il Trovatore at La Scala, La Bohème in Tel Aviv and at Opéra Bastille, Simon Boccanegra (new production) in Dresden conducted by M° Thielemann, the debut at the Royal Opera House, with I due Foscari, conducted by Antonio Pappano.

Maria sang Norma in Zurich conducted by M° Luisi, Turandot at La Scala conducted by M° Riccardo Chailly, Norma in Turin and at the Champs Elysées , Verdi’s Requiem at La Scala under the baton of M° Mehta, La Traviata in Munich, Norma and Il Trovatore in Madrid, her debut at Metropolitan Opera in La Bohème, directed by Zeffirelli, where she came back with Turandot, Turandot at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

She recently made her debut in Don Carlo at Teatro Real de Madrid, opera which she reprised in Venice. Another important debut is in Tosca at Opéra de Paris and Teatro Real de Madrid.

Future engagements include: her upcoming debut in Adriana Lecouvreur at Teatro La Scala, Manon Lescaut at Opéra de Montecarlo, her house debut at ABAO Olbe with Madama Butterfly.

Maria has won the important prize “Franco Abbiati” in 2014: Italian national critics gave her the prize for Best Soprano.

Besides, she won the prestigious international prize “Luigi Illica”.

Daniela Barcellona
is a “much appreciated singer who can count on a broad phrasing, supported by a solid, robust and consistent technique. The silkiness of her voice is heightened by a fascinating timbre and her coloratura remains today unparalleled”. Daniela Barcellona was born in Trieste, where she completed her musical studies under the guidance of Alessandro Vitiello. After winning numerous prestigious international competitions like the “Adriano Belli” award in Spoleto, “Iris Adami Corradetti” in Padua, and the “Pavarotti International Voice Competition” in Philadelphia, she made her debut in the title role of Tancredi at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in 1999, establishing herself as a reference interpreter for “en travesti” roles, which have brought her to walk the most prestigious opera houses worldwide, from New York’s Metropolitan Opera to La Scala in Milan, from the Royal Opera House in London to the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, from the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich to the Teatro Real in Madrid, from the Salzburg Festival to the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, to name a few.

Prized with the “Premio Abbiati”, she has worked with such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Baremboim, Riccardo Muti, Myung-whun Chung, Riccardo Chailly, James Levine, Antonio Pappano, Gianandrea Noseda, Alberto Zedda, Roberto Abbado, Valery Gergiev, Bruno Campanella, Sir Colin Davis, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Lorin Maazel, Michele Mariotti, Kent Nagano, Georges Prêtre, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Juraj Valčuha, Zubin Mehta and with such stage directors as David McVicar, Robert Carsen, Luca Ronconi, Damiano Michieletto, Pierluigi Pizzi, Mario Martone, Hugo De Hana, Paul Curran, David Alden, Yannis Kokkos, and Emilio Sagi.

In Italy she has been acclaimed numerous times at La Scala in Milan (Lucrezia Borgia, Iphigénie en Aulide, Il viaggio a Reims, La donna del lago, Luisa Miller, Falstaff, Les Troyens) where she also sang Europa Riconosciuta conducted by Riccardo Muti on 7 December 2004 for the Opera House’s historical re-opening, at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (Tancredi, La donna del lago,Semiramide, Bianca e Falliero, Adelaide di Borgogna, Maometto II, Sigismondo, Stabat Mater, Petite messe solennelle marking the 150th anniversary of the composer’s death), at the Teatro Regio di Torino (Anna Bolena, Tancredi, Don Carlo, Samson et Dalila, Verdi’sRequiem, Rossini’s Stabat Mater), at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma (Il barbiere di Siviglia, La fiamma, Cenerentola, L’Italiana in Algeri, Tancredi, Semiramide), at the Comunale in Bologna (Giulio Cesare) and Florence (Il barbiere di Siviglia, L’Italiana in Algeri, Tancredi,Orfeo ed Euridice), at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Verdi’s Requiem, Il viaggio a Reims, Petite messe solennelle), at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, at the Sferisterio in Macerata (Norma and Verdi’s Requiem), at the Arena and Teatro Filarmonico in Verona (Verdi’s Requiem, Aida, L’Italiana in Algeri), at the Teatro Regio in Parma (Norma), at the San Carlo in Napoli (Anna Bolena, Orfeo ed Euridice), at the Carlo Felice in Genoa (Cenerentola, Verdi’s Requiem, La Favorite), at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo (Stabat Mater, Norma), at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste (Ginevra di Scozia by Simon Mayr, Tancredi, L’Italiana in Algeri), at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Paisiello’s Missa defunctorum) and she made her debut at the opening concert of the Donizetti Opera 2018 festival. ....

René Barbera
has quickly established himself as one of today’s most exciting vocal artists. The first-ever sole recipient of all three top awards of the Operalia Competition in 2011 and winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2008, René has earned critical praise and audience acclaim for his effortless singing, his “old-fashioned warmth” (Opera News), and his expressive musicality. In the 2019/20 season, René returns to the historic Teatro alla Scala for two of his signature roles: Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) and Alfredo (La Traviata).

Additionally, he sings Conte Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at the Wiener Staatsoper, at Genoa’s Teatro Carlo Felice, at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, marking his debut in Japan and he comes back to Palermo with concerts of Beethoven IX and Verdi’s Messa di Requiem. Following these engagements, René will debut at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie Liège as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata, and he revisits the role of Don Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia.

His international concert engagements include Verdi’s Requiem, first at the Elbphilharmonie with the NDR Elbplharmonie Orchester led by Alan Gilbert, and later at The Shed in New York City with MusicaAeterna conducted by Teodor Currentzis. He is the tenor soloist in Rossini’s Stabat Mater, with Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg in Luxembourg and Paris with conductor Gustavo Gimeno, and he returns to Teatro alla Scala to perform the piece under the baton of Myung-Whun Chung. He is also a featured artist at the annual Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung Gala benefit concert in Berlin.

In 2018/19, René continued his dazzling streak of house and role debuts, with performances at the Wiener Staatsoper as Ernesto in Don Pasquale, the Dutch National Opera as Conte Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma for his first Anna Bolena, singing the role of Riccardo Percy. Additionally, he made his title role debut in Mozart’s Idomeneo at Palermo’s Teatro Massimo, receiving critical praise for his “great power” and “effortless agility” (Teatro.it), and sang his first Idamore in Donizetti’s Il Paria in concert with Opera Rara (recorded for a future album release).

With musicAeterna, led by Teodor Currentzis, he performed Verdi’s Requiem on tour with the ensemble in Paris, Brussels, Cologne, Hamburg, and Vienna. Mr. Barbera concluded the season with Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) at the Wiener Staatsoper, Duca di Mantua (Rigoletto) at VeszprėmFest, and Alfredo in a new production of La Traviata at the Festival Castell Peralada.

Recent highlights include his Teatro alla Scala debut as Ernesto in Don Pasquale with conductor Riccardo Chailly; his Metropolitan Opera debut as Lindoro; Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; his first Alfredo in La traviata in Palermo; Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Conte Almaviva (Barbiere di Siviglia), and Iopas in Les Troyens at San Francisco Opera; Don Ramiro, Conte Almaviva, and his first Arturo (I Puritani) at the Opéra national de Paris; Don Ramiro in debuts with the Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and the Bayerische Staatsoper; Arturo at the Staatstheater Stuttgart; Ernesto with the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Tonio in La fille du régiment with Greensboro Opera; Almaviva with Los Angeles Opera; Giannetto in La gazza ladra and Narciso in Il turco in Italia at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro; Rodrigo in Rossini’s La donna del lago in his Santa Fe Opera debut; and the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

René is a graduate of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, and Florida Grand Opera’s Young Artist Program.

Carlo Lepore
Recent and future engagements of Carlo Lepore include The Barber of Seville (Bartolo and Basilio) in Naples, Paris, Buenos Aires and Montreal, Falstaff at the Teatro Petruzzelli of Bari, Le nozze di Figaro (Bartolo) in Rome, London ROH and Glyndebourne, L’Italiana in Algieri, Gianni Schicchi and Il Turco in Italia in Torino, L'elisir d'amore in Cologne and Venice, Armida and L’Inganno felice at the Rossini Opera Festival and La Cenerentola in Naples and Rome.

A guest at major European theaters and festivals, Carlo Lepore has a rich repertoire among which Rossini roles as Mustafa in L’Italia in Algieri (Teatro alla Scala, the Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Semperoper Dresden, Cologne, Las Palmas ), Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola (Milan, Rome, Colon of Buenos Aires etc.), the main character in Il Turco in Italia (Rome, Genoa, Turin), Don Basilio (Ravenna, Nancy, Liege) and Bartolo (Dresden, Toulon) in Il Barbero di Sivigliae and Mozart's Leporello, Don Alfonso, along with Bartolo, Donizetti’s Dulcamara (Verona, Dijon) and Don Pasquale (Toulon) to name a few.

From his debut at the Teatro dell' Opera in Rome as Don Basilio, he went on to the Teatro San Carlo in Naples where he sang in Il Matrimonio Segreto (Count Robinson), Il Convitato di pietra (Pulcinella) by G.Tritto, Le Convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali by Donizetti directed by R. De Simone and made his La Scala debut as George in Nina, o sia la pazza per amore by Paisiello under the direction of Riccardo Muti, followed by Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola and Mustafa in L’Italiana both directed by J P Ponnelle and directed respectively by B.Campanella and C. Rovaris and finding further successes as Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’amore directed by R.Rizzi Brignoli, Ping in Turandot under the baton of G. Prêtre and Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro also directed by R Muti.

A frequent guest at the Rossini Opera Festival , Carlo Lepore has performed roles in Capellio in Bianca e Falliero, Hieros in Le Siège de Corinthe, Mustafà in Adina, Ginardo in Matilde di Shabran directed by M. Martone, repreised at Covent Garden, Blansac in La Scala di Seta directed by C. Scimone and Gaudenzio in Il Signor Bruschino.

Other appearances include Count Rodolfo in La Sonnambula ( Catania , Tokyo ), Alidoro in La Cenerentola ( Palermo , Marseille ) , Nonancourt in Il capello di paglia di Firenze at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa , directed by B .Bartoletti , Colline in La Bohème ( Cosenza , Bari ) , Sarastro in Die Zauberfloete at the Teatro Bellini in Catania Z.Pesko directed by directed by W. Herzog , the Pharaoh in Mose in Egitto ( Monte Carlo, Zurich ) the Gouverneur in Le Comte Ory in Genoa an the Bonze in Madama Butterfly at the Arena di Verona.

Among many memorable roles are Reverend Hylier in La Visita Meravigliosa by N. Rota, La Scala di Seta in Berlin conducted A. Zedda, La Grotta di Trofonio in Lausanne and Poissy with C. Rousset, Rocca in Un Giorno di Regno in Nancy, Seneca in L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Geneva, Caen, St. Pölten) and even more rarely performed roles like Socrate Immaginario by Paisiello (Teatro alla Scala), Celos aun del aire matan by J.Hidalgo and libretto by Calderon de la Barca, with which he opened the 2001 season of the Teatro Real in Madrid, Giampaolo Lasagna in Le Astuzzie Feminile by Cimarosa, L’Orfeo by A.Sartorio, Gli Amori di Apollo e Daphne by F.Cavalli, L’Euridice by J. Peri La Locandiera at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, L’Aretusa by F. Vitali, Il Sansone by B.Ferrari, San Giovanni Battista (Erode) by A.Stradella, La Locandiera (Don Pomponio) by P.Auletta, Don Chischiotte by R. Solci, Il Divertimento dei Numi by G. Paisiello, La Dirindina by D. Scarlatti (Don Carissimo), L’Impresario delle Canarie (Nibbio) by G B Martini, in addition to more notable Ariodante (King of Scotland), Acis and Galatea (Polyphemus), Giulio Cesare (Achilles) and Orlando (Zoroaster) by Handel.

He filmed the role of the Commendatore in the Don Giovani film directed by Carlos Saura

Carlo Lepore also has a busy concert schedule. He sang the Petite Messe Solennelle at the Teataro Filarmonico in Verona conducted by R. Gandolfi, the Stabat Mater in Valencia, the works by Vivaldi Tito Manlio (Brussels, Barbican Center in London) with O. Dantone and La Senna Festeggiante (New York with R. Alessandrini, Barcelona J.Savall), Eumelio by A.Agazzari at the Settimana Musicale Senese, Le tre ore d’agonia e la Passio by G. Giordani in Macerata, and has performed at the Konzerthaus Berlin with Le Febi Armonici, at the Innsbruck Festival with A. De Marchi, the Ravenna Festival with lieder by Wagner and Bellini, the Baths of Caracalla with Chicester Psalms of L.Bernstein conducted by D. Oren, in Lugano Stabat Mater by Haydn and The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross conducted by D. Fasolis for the Italian Swiss Radio. Also he performed Winterreise in Spoleto, Todi and the Teatro Ghione Rome, Un Canzoniere Italiano by Wolf-Ferrari at the Wexford Opera Festival

Some of his most recent credits include Melitone in the La Forza del Destino and his debut in the title role in Falstaff at the Verdi Festival in Parma, Leporello in Don Giovanni in Lucca and Bergamo, Savonlinna Festival and most recently in Turin, directed by C. Hogwood, Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Houston Grand Opera and at the Royal Opera House in London under Pappano, Cosi fan tutte in Turin directed by E. Scola, Cologne and London conducted by Sir Colin Davis, Il Viaggio a Reims ( Don Profondo) in Antwerp with A. Zedda, Il Signor Bruschino in Pesaro, Don Magnifico at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and in the film of A. Anderman "Cenerentola, una favola in diretta" conducted by G. Gelmetti directed by Carlo Verdone , broadcast by RAI 1 and worldwide, and L’Italiana in Algieri in Liege.

His discography includes La Nina, o la pazza per l’amore by G. Paisiello with R. Muti (Ricordi), Matilde di Shabran (Decca) and Bianca e Falliero (Dynamic), La Grotta di Trofonio A.Salieri with C. Rousset (Ambroisie), Sansone, Radamisto (Virgin) and Ariodante with A.Curtis, the Intermezzi of Pergolesi Livietta and Tracollo with O. Dantone and la Serva padrona conducted by C. Rovaris, and the forthcoming recording pf the recital "Non solo buffo" with pianist John Velvets (Bongiovanni).

Born in Naples, Carlo Lepore lives in Rome, where he studied voice with Alessandra Gonzaga and graduated in Law. He also studied with Carlo Bergonzi at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Paolo Montarsolo, Joe Giardina, Alberto Zedda and finalized on Mozart with the Vienna Chamber Otto Edelman. He has won several competitions, including the "U.K. Pergolesi "of Rome and the Competition" A. Belli "of the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale of Spoleto (1992), his debut as Dulcamara and Leporello.

In 2012 he received Tiberini gold with the following motivation: "for an authentic bass voice, deep and broad, for technical expertise in offering and interpreting character roles comic opera and drama and playful characters serious Italian opera ".

Booklet for Rossini: Stabat Mater