BOCCHERINI, L.: Stabat mater / String Quartet, G. 234 / String Quintet, G. 348 (Labelle, Sarasa Ensemble)

Boccherini enjoyed enormous popularity during his lifetime thanks to music that emphasized rich melody, instrumental vibrancy and disarming beauty. He chose the intimacy of a chamber music setting for his Stabat Mater, writing for a solo soprano and string quintet with the instrumental textures weaving the fabric of the text’s meaning. The result is passionate music with power, depth and pathos. As a virtuoso cellist he was perfectly placed to write chamber music. In the Quartet, Op. 52, No. 3, a colorful tapestry of contrasting events frames moments of bucolic excitement and lyric interlude, while the expertly structured Quintet, Op. 42, No. 1 directly evokes the Stabat Mater in its themes.