Recently in Recordings
The Sixteen continues its exploration of Henry Purcell’s Welcome Songs for Charles II. As with Robert King’s pioneering Purcell series begun over thirty years ago for Hyperion, Harry Christophers is recording two Welcome Songs per disc.
In February this year, Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho made a highly lauded debut recital at Wigmore Hall - a concert which both celebrated Opera Rara’s 50th anniversary and honoured the career of the Italian soprano Rosina Storchio (1872-1945), the star of verismo who created the title roles in Leoncavallo’s La bohème and Zazà, Mascagni’s Lodoletta and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
Collapsology. Or, perhaps we should use the French word ‘Collapsologie’ because this is a transdisciplinary idea pretty much advocated by a series of French theorists - and apparently, mostly French theorists. It in essence focuses on the imminent collapse of modern society and all its layers - a series of escalating crises on a global scale: environmental, economic, geopolitical, governmental; the list is extensive.
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One of the nicest things about being lucky enough to enjoy opera, music and theatre, week in week out, in London’s fringe theatres, music conservatoires, and international concert halls and opera houses, is the opportunity to encounter striking performances by young talented musicians and then watch with pleasure as they fulfil those sparks of promise.
“It’s forbidden, and where’s the art in that?”
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Beethoven Symphony no 9 (the Choral Symphony) in D minor, Op. 125, and the Choral Fantasy in C minor, Op. 80 with soloist Kristian Bezuidenhout, Pablo Heras-Casado conducting the Freiburger Barockorchester, new from Harmonia Mundi.
A Louise Brooks look-a-like, in bobbed black wig and floor-sweeping leather trench-coat, cheeks purple-rouged and eyes shadowed in black, Barbara Hannigan issues taut gestures which elicit fire-cracker punch from the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
‘Signor Piatti in a fantasia on themes from Beatrice di Tenda had also his triumph. Difficulties, declared to be insuperable, were vanquished by him with consummate skill and precision. He certainly is amazing, his tone magnificent, and his style excellent. His resources appear to be inexhaustible; and altogether for variety, it is the greatest specimen of violoncello playing that has been heard in this country.’
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Melodramas can be a difficult genre for composers. Before Richard Strauss’s Enoch Arden the concept of the melodrama was its compact size – Weber’s Wolf’s Glen scene in Der Freischütz, Georg Benda’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Medea or even Leonore’s grave scene in Beethoven’s Fidelio.
Recordings
24 May 2005
Arie del ‘700 Italiano (Italian arias of the 18th century)
Featuring nine arias from various eighteenth-century operas and composers, this recording contains a wide variety of dramatic songs, three of which are the recitative and aria “Se cerca, se dice: “I’amico dov’e?” and “Ha keres, ha kerdez: a baratom hol van?” from the opera L’Olimpiade, set by three different composers. Accompanied on period instruments by the Savaria Baroque Orchestra, Monica González does a magnificent job with each of the arias on this disc. She is a former winner of the International “Toti dal Monte” singing competition, and has studied by personal invitation with Dame Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge at their home in Montreaux.
Arie del '700 Italiano (Italian arias of the 18th century)
Mónika González, soprano, with the Savaria Baroque Orchestra, Fabio Pirona (cond.)
Hungaroton HCD 32253 [CD]
Featuring nine arias from various eighteenth-century operas and composers, this recording contains a wide variety of dramatic songs, three of which are the recitative and aria "Se cerca, se dice: "I'amico dov'e?" and "Ha keres, ha kerdez: a baratom hol van?" from the opera L'Olimpiade, set by three different composers. Accompanied on period instruments by the Savaria Baroque Orchestra, Mónika González does a magnificent job with each of the arias on this disc. She is a former winner of the International "Toti dal Monte" singing competition, and has studied by personal invitation with Dame Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge at their home in Montreaux.
The three settings of the same recitative and aria from L'Olimpiade are the focal point of this recording. The composers are Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736), Giovanni Paisiello (1741-1816), and Niccolo Vito Piccinni (1728-1800). Pergolesi's version, which premiered in Rome in 1733, was based on a libretto of Metastasio, which was considered a masterpiece, so much so that over fifty different composers set this libretto to music during the eighteenth century. While Pergolesi's version was considered a failure at its premiere, it went on to be performed consistently throughout the eighteenth century, and inspired much admiration. It is now considered to be one of Pergolesi's masterpieces, along with his La serva padrona.
Other composers and operas that appear on this disc include arias from Niccolo Jommelli's (1714-1774) Armida abbandonata, Leonardo Leo's (1694-1744) Catone in Utica, Pergolesi's Adriano in Siria, Antonio Sacchini's (1730-1786) L'eroe cinese, Baldassare Galuppi's (1706-1785/9) Antigona, and an aria from a missing opera by Tommaso Traetta (1727-1779). Overall, this is an excellent recording of eighteenth-century opera arias, with a nice comparison/contrast of three different settings of the same aria to music.
Dr. Brad Eden
University of Nevada, Las Vegas