En ce nouveau volume, Opus 111 poursuit son entreprise de découverte de l'oeuvre vivaldien. Le choix de mêler concertos et cantates, opéré déjà dans le précédent volume, se révèle toujours aussi judicieux : c'est en somme une manière de donner à la philologie et au souci archéologique les séductions du concert.

Orlando finto pazzo ('Orlando feigns madness') was the second of Vivaldi's numerous operas, and his first for the Venetian stage. The story of Orlando's madness is taken not from the usual source, Ariosto's poem Orlando furioso, but Boiardo's earlier Orlando innamorato, a similarly tragicomic mix of love, intrigue and magic. In Ariosto's poem Orlando's madness is real, but here he pretends it for no obvious reason; in fact it's no more than a couple of episodes in a convoluted and unengaging plot built around a lovepentangle (no less), and further complicated by various disguises and rampant dissembling.

'La verità in cimento' is the first complete recording of Antonio Vivaldi's 1720 opera, made in conjunction with a revival of this work at the Bologna Festival, albeit with a different group of singers. This recording has an excellent frontline cast, including veteran singers such as Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Gemma Bertagnolli, Guillemette Laurens, Nathalie Stutzmann, and Sara Mingardo and Philippe Jaroussky. The band is Ensemble Matheus under the direction of Jean-Christophe Spinosi, and the instrumental complement is especially aggressive in executing extreme dynamics in Vivaldi.

The revival of that most original and fascinating Baroque composer Alessandro Stradella on Brilliant Classics continues with the issue of his substantial Oratorio La Susanna. The story is based on an apocryph bible book, and tells about the virtuous and beautiful Susanna who is wrongly accused of adultery, but is ultimately saved from her execution by the prophet Daniel. This juicy story inspired Stradella to composing dramatic and effectful arias and (instrumental) ensembles, full of burning emotions.

Motezuma is Vivaldi’s only opera set in the New World. The manuscripts for this rarely performed and rarely heard opera were only rediscovered in 2002 and currently only one CD version exists recorded by Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco. Of the CD recording, BBC Music Magazine wrote: “The instrumentalists of Il Complesso Barocco are on excellent form as indeed is Vivaldi himself in a rewarding score”.

This recording of La Sonnambula is notable on a number of fronts. It's the first recording of the opera based on a 2004 critical edition of the score that confirms the leading role was indeed written for a mezzo-soprano, although it has been performed by sopranos for much of its history. (Among the first Aminas were the celebrated mezzos Giuditta Pasta and Maria Malibran.) It's also the first recording using period instruments, in this case Orchestra La Scintilla, based at the Basel Opera and conducted by Alessandro de Marchi in an idiomatic and lively reading. And, as the promotional materials trumpet, it's the first recorded collaboration between superstars Cecilia Bartoli and Juan Diego Flórez. Although less hoopla is made of him, the recording also features a superbly lyrical performance by baritone Ildebrando D'Arcangelo.

This isn't the 'Vivaldi Vespers', or even a reconstruction of a specific event, but a kind of 'sacred concert' in Vespers form, of the sort that Venetian churches in Vivaldi's time would mount in the name of worship.
Whether he ever supplied all the music for any such occasion isn't clear, but he certainly set plenty of Vespers texts, enough at any rate for Rinaldo Alessandrini and scholar Frédéric Delaméa to put together this rich programme.

Handel’s Italian oratorio seems to offer a great deal of fascination to continental-based ensembles presumably because the Italian texts make the works easier to perform well with non-Anglophone singers. But there are significant differences, between this work and the later oratorios. The later works use choruses and have quite strong narrative and moral elements. The English Oratorios were written for mainly English-trained singers whose style was expressive rather than virtuoso; in them the older Handel aimed for a new style.

La virtù de’ strali d’Amore was the first of ten operas Cavalli wrote with librettist Giovanni Faustini. Set in Cyprus, the plot involves enchanted and pastoral elements, love and its thwarting, the counterpointing of Man and God, sorcery, revelation and ultimate resolution, all accomplished in a brilliant series of scenes. A follower of Monteverdi, Cavalli reveals the influence of the older man but also his own pronounced independence. Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante have become one of the most admired partnerships in the history of baroque music performance.

“Il mondo della luna” fu scritto da Paisiello durante il suo soggiorno in Russia, ospite a San Pietroburgo della zarina Caterina II che lo impiegò a corte come maestro di cappella. L’opera, su un testo di Carlo Goldoni, venne rappresentata nel 1783, per l’apertura del nuovo Imperial Teatro di pietra per festeggiare il giorno dell’incoronazione di S.M.I. Caterina II.

This disc presents three vocal pieces for soprano with oboe and basso continuo, interspersed between four trio sonatas for 2 oboes & basso continuo.The first cantata "Mi palpita il cor" was written in England - there are four existing variants, but this presented here is probably the earliest, the date given here as 1717. The theme is typically pastoral, with the singer's amorous affliction, the sorrow and hope of being in love with Chloris. The second vocal piece "Meine Seele hort im Sehen" is one of Handel's nine German da capo arias written around 1724/25 which were never published; they were songs of spiritual devotion rejoicing in God's creation as manifested in the beauty of nature, and not intended for concert performance.

TDK presents a remarkable staging of one of Bellini’s opera masterpieces on DVD: The wonderful singer-actor and coloratura soprano Eva Mei presents one of her showpieces - Amina, the sleep-walking heroine. She has sung the role all over Italy, from Palermo to Turin and has been loved by audiences all over the world for her clear voice and her stage personality. Beside her, the Catalan tenor José Bros, a renowned Bellini specialist, repeats what Il giornale della musica described as his “secure and committed” performance in the role of Amina’s fiancé Elvino. But the show belongs to the heroine, and Eva Mei was praised in the same periodical for her “bel canto skill, her pure, radiant top notes and the resolute, yet unaffected and elegant way she dominates the stage.” This performance at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 2004 is lead by the superb opera conductor, Daniel Oren, who has a long alliance with Italian opera houses and regularly conducts at the Arena di Verona.

Amor rende sagace è il tipico caso di settecentesca strategia promozionale. L' operina della ditta Bertati/Cimarosa nacque per sfruttare lo storico successo ottenuto qualche mese prima dal Matrimonio segreto (fu bissata per intera la sera della prima), di cui riflette qualche soluzione espressiva ma non l' inimitabile impasto di comicità e patetismo. Di ciò è consapevole il poeta che così si scusa nella premessa al libretto: "dove gioca in principalità la buffoneria, non può aver gran luogo quello che interessa il cuore". In effetti, dal punto di vista strutturale e narrativo Amore rende sagace, titolo di felice sintesi comportamentale, scorre entro binari prevedibili e solerti: non frenato da smancerie sentimentali.

A Naïve boxed set that gathers the finest sacred works composed by Antonio Vivaldi and performed by some of the most recognized artists in this wonderful repertoire, including Sandrine Piau, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Philippe Jaroussky, Sara Mingardo, and Rinaldo Alessandrini.