Stabat Mater - Tiziano Scarpa

While translations provide an opportunity to read books that would otherwise be inaccessible, there are some that one feels ought really to be read in their original language. As beautiful as Shaun Whiteside’s translation reads, I can’t help feeling that Tiziano Scarpa’s 'Stabat Mater' is one of those novels. The story is told through Cecilia a sixteen year old orphan who lives in Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà’ she earns her keep as a violinist in the orchestra that plays in the church next door to the orphanage. The musicians and singers of the orphanage perform from a hidden gallery within ... more