Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736) was a prodigy of the Italian Baroque whose short life produced music of extraordinary grace. His Stabat Mater, for soprano, alto and strings, is a sublime meditation on grief — tender, aching and luminous — and remained one of the most-printed works of the 18th century. He also helped pioneer comic opera with La serva padrona. Performed live, the Stabat Mater is profoundly moving.