Cesti: Cantatas & Arias

The number of pieces written for Holy Week is vast. But you will hardly encounter such a unique treatment of fundamental Christian faith as in the Rappresentazione sacra al Santissimo Sepolcro, which was composed at the Viennese imperial court in the mid-17th century. It is a staged presentation of the events at Christ's tomb that was either composed by His Majesty Leopold I himself (from 1660) or by one of his court conductors. This recording presents the Sepolcro of 1667, which was set to music by a top Italian star - the Franciscan Antonio Cesti (1623-1669). The new imperial maestro di capella creates a world where allegorical figures representing nature and it's four elements mourn the sacred sacrifice. The waters drizzle down, the winds blow and the flames blaze - this master of opera cannot deny his true nature.

The selection of cantatas presented on this CD is based on the critical edition prepared by Alice Borciani for the Istituto Italiano per la Storia della Musica under the direction of the musicologist Luigi Collarile. The volume brings together the twelve cantatas by Antonio Cesti on texts by the poet Giovanni Filippo Apolloni, a friend and compatriot of the composer. The ensemble Il Zabaione musicale borrows its name from a collection of music by Adriano Banchieri published in Milan in 1604. This ensemble specialising in early music was founded in 2010 by Alice Borciani (Italy), Elam Rotem (Israel) and Ryosuke Sakamoto (Japan), who met while studying at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Their interest in early music and especially the repertoire of the Italian early baroque led to various concerts in Italy and Switzerland. Musicological research plays a fundamental role in the work of the ensemble, whose main goals include rediscovering unexplored musical repertoire and working with original sources.

In 2019 the music world commemorated the 350th anniversary of the death of Marc’Antonio Cesti, the greatest composer of opera comedies and the most gifted melodist of the seventeenth century. Since Cesti lived and worked in Innsbruck for many years, La Dori, his brilliant comedy of disguises and hidden identities, was the perfect choice for posthumous honors “on location.” Ottavio Dantone, who is active from the Milan Scala to the Salzburg Festival with his specialist’s support in the field of Baroque and Classical opera, conducted his exquisite original sound ensemble, the Accademia Bizantina on the Innsbruck opera stage and set in motion the Dori renaissance. This comedy of love’s errors set by the banks of the Euphrates and at the court of Babylon is now available for audio enjoyment on CPO.

This compilation of Antonio Cesti'ʹs most beautiful arias and cantatas features nearly exclusively world première recordings. Antonio Cesti (1623-69) was a leading 17th century composer, tenor and organist. His evident Italianiate melodic and harmonic style and charm make clear why the Medici family was so interested in having him as a regular composer. Spanish soprano Raquel Andueza and La Galanía reveal the love, passion, tenderness and fire inherent in these works.

The premiere von L'Orontea took place in 1656 in Innsbruck at the court of Archduke Ferdinand Karl, grandson of Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany, who at that time was the patron of the first attempts of the art form of opera in Florence. Alongside Francesco Cavalli's opera "La Giasone", "L'Orontea" went down in history as the most successful opera of the late 17th century. On the occasion of the premiere in Frankfurt, the following could be read in Deutschlandradio Kultur: "It is a scenic production that will remain in one's memory - not because the production in Frankfurt is so shameless and trashy. Instead, it reminds us of why Antonio Cesti's opera "L'Orontea" once belonged to the most beloved of all stage works. And it is well worth taking a look into the orchestra pit at this performance."

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Pietro Antonio Cesti was one of the most outstanding champions of 17th-century Venetian opera, and La Dori was both his greatest success and a major influence on the genre in the expressiveness of its arias and duets. The story is set in Babylon on the shores of the Euphrates, and is a convoluted and richly tragicomedic tale of lost lovers, disguises and mistaken identities filled with larger-than-life and colourfully costumed characters. This revival of a forgotten masterpiece was acclaimed as ‘a production of the highest level in every aspect’ (musicaculturaonline.it).

Also available on Blu-ray

Pietro Antonio Cesti was one of the most outstanding champions of 17th-century Venetian opera, and La Dori was both his greatest success and a major influence on the genre in the expressiveness of its arias and duets. The story is set in Babylon on the shores of the Euphrates, and is a convoluted and richly tragicomedic tale of lost lovers, disguises and mistaken identities filled with larger-than-life and colourfully costumed characters. This revival of a forgotten masterpiece was acclaimed as ‘a production of the highest level in every aspect’ (musicaculturaonline.it).