Ferdinando Paer was, together with Simon Mayr, the dominating figure in Italian opera at the beginning of the 19th century, making his early career in Parma. Initially a pupil of his father, who held many important musical positions in Italy, he was already composing in his teenage years, his first opera completed when he was just twenty-one. The mid part of his life found him caught up in the politics surrounding Napoleon, in whose service both he and his wife—an operatic soprano—became involved, both subsequently extracting themselves from that connection without too much damage to their reputation, the couple remaining in Paris until Paer’s death in 1839. That he was such an important composer of opera, found commentators of the time describing his sacred music as too close to the theatre. Certainly that is true of moments in Il Santo Sepolcro ossia La Passione di Gesu Cristo (The Holy Sepulchre or The Passion of Jesus Christ) completed somewhere around the early years of the 19th century, its Introduzione coming close to a Mozart opera overture, though much of the work stands in direct descent of Haydn. It’s text takes us through events after the death of Christ as seen through the eyes of Mary Magdalene and St. John and derived from the bible. The performance is assured, Cornelia Horak floating some beautiful high notes; Thomas Michael Allen’s tenor a little constricted as Nicodemus, the quartet completed by the alto, Vanessa Barkowski, and bass, Jens Hamann. If the chorus sound a bit short of numbers, the orchestra, under the baton of Franz Hauk, is very good, with particularly enjoyable solo woodwind playing. The performance preceded by Simon Mayr’s short Invito to set the devotional scene. Reliable sound quality. © 2012 David’s Review Corner