Unfortunately this CD is SOLD OUT, however you can purchase the album on iTunes.
"This [is a] particularly luminous and celestial-sounding rendition from a most accomplished Seattle choir.
The work's basic text is the classic 13th century Latin hymn (in 20 stanzas) by Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi, describing the Virgin Mary's searing emotions as she bears grieving witness to her son's agony and death on the cross. But Ferko seeks to update and amplify he basic theme of a mother's outrageous loss of her child with five additional interpolated texts in English that speak of human losses most of us have experienced in the course of our lives—whether from war, disease, murder, suicide or tragic accidents.
Performance quality is beyond reproach. Mr Bode draws absolutely ravishing and emotionally wrenching singing from his choir; their rich, smooth sonorities gain a particularly ethereal bloom in the heavenly acoustics of Seattle's St James Cathedral—where this recording was made in concert. Soprano soloist Juliana Rambaldi is superb… this choir's tonal opulence and sacred intensity sets their performance apart.
If you don't know Ferko's wondrous choral music (he also writes amazing music for organ), this recording is sure to make a convert of you. Check out his shimmering Hildegard Motets while you're at it.” - Gothic Catalog Blog
"Under the masterful direction of Robert Bode, Choral Arts demonstrated their supreme musicianship in producing a consistently rich, warm, and beautifully blended tone to shape each phrase, and ultimately, to unfold the overall architecture of this complex musical work. The audience was clearly aware that what they were experiencing was, in fact, a very rare musical event." - Frank Ferko
Track Listing:
Recordings Frank Ferko Stabat Mater
Recordings Frank Ferko Stabat Mater