Physically diminished by chemotherapy, but unyielding to his illness, Jiří Bělohlávek bade farewell to London in April with a performance of Dvořák’s Requiem. His final recording is of the same composer’s Stabat Mater, with the Czech Philharmonic. The work, a colossus of lamentation and consolation, is on an epic scale, and Bělohlávek’s performance is masterful in its pacing. The massive first movement unfolds with a profound inevitability; an hour later, the Amen has a real sense of arrival. There’s a spacious, burnished quality to the sound, the orchestra’s dark-timbred strings and emollient, airborne flutes; the choir all warmth and substance, even if one could occasionally wish it a touch more incisive. The four soloists fit their differing roles well: bass Jongmin Park and mezzo Elisabeth Kulman are solemn yet supple; Eri Nakamura’s bell-like soprano and Michael Spyres’s buoyant tenor are well matched in their duet. It’s a moving farewell.
