"Soft Voices"

One of the most famous settings of the penitential psalm Miserere comes from the Italian priest and composer Gregorio Allegri. Written in 1627 exclusively for the Sistine Chapel in Rome, it was strictly forbidden for the performing musicians at that time to copy or distribute the notes. However, in 1770, the then fourteen-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart defied this ban, which brought even greater fame to the work: After attending a performance of the piece during Holy Week in Rome, he transcribed it from memory. In the atmospheric setting of the Old Cathedral in Linz, the Swiss ensemble Voces Suaves complements Allegri's Miserere with additional highlights of sacred Italian vocal music from the Baroque period by composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Lotti, and Domenico Scarlatti.

Program
I Part: At the Mass
Domenico Scarlatti // 1685–1757
Laudate pueri Dominum à 8 // no date
Alessandro Scarlatti // 1660–1725
Messa à 8 C major // around 1700
Salve Regina à 4 D minor // 1703
// Intermission //
II Part: At the Oratorio
Gregorio Allegri // 1582–1652
Miserere à 9 G minor for two choirs // around 1630
Antonio Lotti // 1667–1740
Crucifixus à 8 C minor // 1717–19
Domenico Scarlatti
Stabat mater à 10 C minor // around 1715

Cast
Voces Suaves
Michele Vannelli | Organ & Conductor