The Harmonic Labyrinth with ABS

The American Bach Soloists presented an unusually rich program entitled The Harmonic Labyrinth on Sunday afternoon at St. Marks Lutheran Church. It started with a short secular cantata from 1747 by J.S. Bach, Non se che sia dolore, written as a goodbye present for a friend. The piece is essentially a flute concerto that turns into a soprano and flute duet. Soprano Maya Kherani was the lovely soloist while Bethanne Walker was mellifulous on her original instrument flute.

Next up was Pietro Locatelli's 1733 Violin Concerto in D Major, a virtuosic work with two fiendishly complex cadenzas. Violinist YuEun Gemma Kim was a joy to watch as she tore through the work under the baton of Music Director Jeffrey Thomas.

The second half of the program was achingly gorgeous, with a pair of vocal works devoted to the Virgin Mary. First up was Domenico Scarlatti's final composition, the 1756 Salve Regina for soprano and strings. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Coit sang the 15-minute work in a creamy, seamless fashion that had everyone in the church pews melting in pleasure.

The major work on the program was still to come, Pergolesi's 1736 Stabat Mater, which was the composer's final work before his early death at age 26. After the work was published, it quickly became a sensation all over Europe, and it's easy to hear why. The music for two sopranos, singing separately and together, is so beautiful that I'm surprised it hasn't been repurposed for commercial purposes everywhere, rather like the Flower Duet from Lakmé that British Airlines was using for years. I have only heard a live performance of this Stabat Mater a couple of times over the decades, and there was always something missing until Sunday's performance, when Maya Kherani and Sarah Coit interweaved their voices with such perfection that the audience floated out in pure happiness. As my late friend Jack Murray once said when handing me an LP of the work as a birthday present, "Don't worry. It's an 'up' Stabat Mater."