Dvorák naturally gave a great deal of attention to the genre of the oratorio, and it was his work in this area that firmly established his reputation in the English speaking world.

Rossini very much admired Pergolesi’s fine setting of the Stabat Mater, but had not felt equal to attempting his own. The decision to try came as a result of a plea from a Spanish prelate, Fernández Varela, who wished to possess an original Rossini manuscript.

However, Rossini succumbed to an attack of lumbago and had given the score to Giovanni Tadolini to complete. Rossini forbade any publication or performance of the score as it stood and eventually supplied another publisher (Troupenas) with a complete, all-Rossini score.

Together with the Mozart Requiem and his Masonic music, these are the only sacred works recorded by Kertész for Decca. Both feature Pilar Lorengar singing the soprano parts and the Rossini also features Luciano Pavarotti, dazzling in his tenor solo.