Alessandro Scarlatti is one of the key figures of Italian Baroque opera and the influential Neapolitan school in particular. Griselda is the last of Scarlatti’s operas to have survived intact to the present day. Its narrative is set in motion by the marriage of the King of Sicily to a poor shepherdess; the ensuing complications of love and the tensions between country and court delivering an entertainment full of lyrical charm and lively action. Performed by a superb team of Baroque specialists and acclaimed singers, this production is set in Puglia’s magnificent Palazzo Ducale and celebrates the 300th anniversary of Griselda’s premiere.

Not long after I reviewed Gabriele Baldocci’s superb recording of the Beethoven/Liszt First and Sixth symphonies, a CD arrived in the mail containing a live 2008 program for two pianos, with the young Italian pianist and his mentor Martha Argerich. Since Argerich previously has recorded all of this repertoire with various pianists, comparisons are inevitable.

Take, for example, the present Ravel La valse, with its pronounced rubato and exploratory inner voices, so different from the Salzburg Argerich/Freire version’s finely honed balances and dynamic scaling. In the Mozart D major sonata, you can weigh Argerich/Baldocci’s more nuanced synchronicity against the harder-hitting Argerich/Rabinovitch rendition. I do prefer this Shostakovich Concertino’s lightness and wit over the more forceful 2006 Lugano Argerich/Zilberstein EMI recording. While the latter’s 2008 Lugano Rachmaninov First Suite is perfectly fine in and of itself, the Argerich/Baldocci collaboration proves strikingly freer and more pliable, especially in the slow third-movement Les larmes.

The outer movements of Milhaud’s Scaramouche are notable for the pianists’ rhythmic verve and clean textures, despite occasional pounding in the Brasileira (Argerich and Karin Merle achieve more polished results in their Lugano rendition issued by DG). The sonics are generally excellent, although a slightly metallic patina emerges in the loudest moments. All told, a delightful release.

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Also available on Blu-ray

Antonio Vivaldi’s three-act opera Orlando Furioso is set to an Italian libretto by Grazio Braccioli and is based on Ludovico Ariosto’s epic poem of the same name. The opera alternates arias with recitative, and is set on an island at an unspecified time. The story line combines several plot lines from Ariosto: the exploits of the hero Orlando are detailed, as well as the tale of the sorceress Alcina. Orlando is performed in this production by Sonia Prina, and Alcina by Lucia Cirillo. Recorded at the 43rd Festival della Valle d’Itria, this production is the first video recording of this rare opera. Subtitles are available on this release in Italian, German, English, French, Japanese, and Korean.

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

Also available on standard DVD
The cast is the best we could possible want for Vivaldi nowadays: Ottavio Dantone's skilfull conducting brings the best out of this orchestral enchantment. Sara Mingardo brings her classy voice and remarkable stage presence to the role of the naive Statira. Delphine Galou’s bright tone and excellent agility combine with perfect diction. Roberta Mameli's crystal clear notes make of the role of Alinda a masterpiece of expressivity. Recorded in high definition, this production offers subtitles in Italian, German, English, French, Japanese, and Korean. Octavio Dantone is an Italian conductor and harpsichordist who is particularly noted for his performances of Baroque music. He has served as the Music Director of the Accademia Bizantina in Ravenna since 1996.

Il Farnace is the most re-written and re-proposed of Vivaldi’s operas. Versions of Farnace, two in 1727 and one each in 1730, 1731 and 1732, were conceived and adapted to the different circumstances for Venice, Prague, Pavia and Mantua, always with a cast to Vivaldi’s satisfaction and with the composer in control of the production. The greatest appreciation of Vivaldi’s operatic music was expressed in a letter by a spectator of the 1727 Carnival season. The abbot Antonio Conti wrote that of all the operas of the Venice season he liked best Farnace because its music was varied, “between the sublime and the tender,” and because Vivaldi’s pupil worked wonders. In 1738, for the Ferrara Carnival season, Vivaldi wrote a new score of the opera. This is the last Farnace, in two acts, as the third was lost.

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

Also available on standard DVD

Il Farnace is the most re-written and re-proposed of Vivaldi’s operas. Versions of Farnace, two in 1727 and one each in 1730, 1731 and 1732, were conceived and adapted to the different circumstances for Venice, Prague, Pavia and Mantua, always with a cast to Vivaldi’s satisfaction and with the composer in control of the production. The greatest appreciation of Vivaldi’s operatic music was expressed in a letter by a spectator of the 1727 Carnival season. The abbot Antonio Conti wrote that of all the operas of the Venice season he liked best Farnace because its music was varied, “between the sublime and the tender,” and because Vivaldi’s pupil worked wonders. In 1738, for the Ferrara Carnival season, Vivaldi wrote a new score of the opera. This is the last Farnace, in two acts, as the third was lost.

Also available on Blu-ray

Il Farnace is the most re-written and re-proposed of Vivaldi’s operas. Versions of Farnace, two in 1727 and one each in 1730, 1731 and 1732, were conceived and adapted to the different circumstances for Venice, Prague, Pavia and Mantua, always with a cast to Vivaldi’s satisfaction and with the composer in control of the production. The greatest appreciation of Vivaldi’s operatic music was expressed in a letter by a spectator of the 1727 Carnival season. The abbot Antonio Conti wrote that of all the operas of the Venice season he liked best Farnace because its music was varied, “between the sublime and the tender,” and because Vivaldi’s pupil worked wonders. In 1738, for the Ferrara Carnival season, Vivaldi wrote a new score of the opera. This is the last Farnace, in two acts, as the third was lost.

ANTONIO VIVALDI: "I Solisti Veneti"/Claudio Scimone; Wiener Singakademie Choir; Adriana Damato, soprano; Laur Brioli, mezzo. ANTONIO VIVALDI - GLORIA AND OTHER SACRED WORKS: Gloria RV 589; Concerto in D major RV581; Falve Regina RV 616: Ad Te suspiramus;Sonata Al Santo Sepolcro RV 130; Stabat Mater RV 621: Stabat Mater, O quam tristis, Fac ut ardeat cor meum, Amen; Dal Gloria RV 588: Qui sedes ad desteram; Concerto in D major RV 562: Allegro.

Principal cast: Laura Cherici (Soprano - Martesia) ,Mary-Ellen Nesi (Mezzo Soprano - Antiope), Zachary Stains (Tenor - Ercole), Randall Scotting (Counertenor - Teseo), Marina Bartoli (Soprano - Ippolita), Filippo Mineccia (Countertenor - Telemone), Luca Dordolo (Tenor - Alceste).

John Pascoe, director, set & costume designer.
Sara Erde, choreographer.

NTSC All Region
Sound: LPCM 2.0; Dolby Digital 5.1
Color
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Duration: 136 mins.
Subtitled in Italian, English, German & French

Singers of great renown were called upon for the first performance of Ercole sul Termodonte by Antonio Vivaldi in Rome, “in the hall of Signor Federico Capranica”, on 27th January 1723. An exclusively male singing cast, as was the custom on Roman stages, to tell the tale of the battle between Hercules, accompanied by the heroes Theseus, Telamon and Alceste, and the Amazons led by Antiope. The story, which is based on the ninth of the legendary labours of Hercules, and which concludes with the traditional happy ending here decreed by Diana, who proclaims the nuptial unions of Hippolyte, Antiope’s sister, (with Theseus, prince of Athens) and of Martesia, Antiope’s daughter (with Telamon, king of Ithaca), was arranged by the “regular canon of La Carità of Venice” Don Giacomo Francesco Bussani, on a libretto that had already been performed in 1678 at the San Salvatore theatre in Venice. The opera was successful, winning appreciation and at the same time astonishment , through its introduction of many passages written in a new “manner”, with an exciting, incisive rhythmic gait. This style so excited the Romans that from then on they demanded it almost exclusively in melodramas.

After the success of 1723, however, Ercole did not circulate widely and at a certain point the score was thought to have been lost. It has only recently been reassembled thanks to the precious rediscovery of some thirty arias and two duets in various archives, and has been reconstructed in its recitative passages. Arias and recitatives are indeed the traditional dramatic pillars supporting the dénouement of the story. The recitatives are generally “secco”, recreated along Vivaldian principles of expressivity and flexibility to accentuate the quality of the individual verses and respecting the general tone of the discourse. The orchestra, however, is present, punctually and in elaborate manner, not only in the more dramatic moments but also in the bucolic, descriptive arias, and stands in the service of the voice to accentuate onomatopoeic effects and to offer clearer depictions of the characters and the feelings that drive them. Now in his twenty-second opera score, Vivaldi brings into play all the technical means at his disposal to render the story comprehensible and to present the state of mind of the individual characters. The main desire of the “red priest” was to proceed smoothly, following the expressive substance of the verses, using shifting melodic invention to set the various scenic moments against a ceaseless search for lively collaboration between voices and instruments and a skilled use of harmonies and of a fanciful search for colors. The final “product”, based though it was on the structures of Neapolitan opera, thus emerges as something unique and personal.

NOTE: Contains nudity

In the first half of the 1700s, the aria with concertante trumpet was one of the ingredients that the public of the numerous Venetian theatres appreciated the most. + This is the first recording that makes available virtually all these still rather little-known vocal and instrumental works with trumpet that encompass Antonio Vivaldi’s entire career, works not only very interesting works from a musical point of view but also brilliantly written. + The oldest ones date from his Mantua period (1718-1720), the most recent ones belonging to the last phase of his operatic career (1732-1737).

Vivaldi L'arte dell'Arco / Giovanni & Federico Gigliemo, violins; et al Six Concerti a Due for Violin

This documentary highlights the violin world of Cremona. Cremona has been made famous by names such as Amati, Guarneri and Stradivari. In this DVD, Salvatore Accardo shows us fascinating insights into the City of Cremona, highlighting the violin makers’ craftsmanship and also showing us and playing some of the most prestigious instruments kept in the Lombard city.

Sound Format: LPCM 2.0
Picture Format: 16:9
Timing: 52 Minutes
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese
Region Code: 0 (All Region)

The possibility of Leonardo Vinci (1690-1730) ever being counted among the world’s great composers is pretty slim; he composed almost three dozen operas—both buffe and serie—and was particularly active in Naples. Judging from La Partenope, which here gets its first recording (taken from live performances in Murcia, Spain in April and May, 2011), he was a good craftsman who composed fine arias of both the introspective and showpiece variety, some quite beautiful.

The opera, composed in 1725, was a rush job—his success in 1724 in Venice with Iphigenia in Tauris led to a commission for another opera to be composed quickly. In 1722, Domenico Sarro had set a libretto by Silvio Stampiglia called Partenope; Vinci used not only the libretto but Sarro’s recitatives and a chorus or two. He cannibalized many of his own compositions for the needed arias, manipulated them, and crammed Stampiglia’s texts in to the music, eliminating much of the sense. (He also changed the opera’s name to Rosmira Fedele, which is the name given to it when Vivaldi set the same libretto as a pasticcio in 1738.)

The result is a plot that might make even the most avid archaeologist give up: all you need know is that Partenope was the (legendary) founder of Naples. Both Handel and Caldara set Stampiglia’s libretto as well. Vinci’s opera was a success when presented but quickly disappeared; in 2004 it was revived for the first time since its premiere with mostly the same forces recorded here.

The stars of the performance are Sonia Prina in the title role, and the orchestra, I Turchini, under Antonio Florio. The full orchestra, including winds, brass, and timpani—and audible continuo—play magnificently and with spunk and energy, never letting the “action” fall apart. And Prina is her usual, accurate, self; having to sound more feminine than in her trouser roles, her voice sounds lighter and she dispatches her coloratura with élan. The role of Arsace, originally for castrato (as were two others), sits low, and mezzo Maria Ercolano does well by it. Maria Grazia Schiavo’s Rosmira is lovely. The recording is a bit “in your face” but that adds some excitement. Not a masterpiece, but a good performance of a somewhat by-the-numbers rarity; certainly for the vocal- and baroque-curious.

-- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com
Reviewing CD version of this recording

Recorded in Murcia, Spain, 2011.
Sound Format: LPCM 2.0 - DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1
Picture Format: 16:9
Running Time: 168 mins
Subtitles: French, English, German, Spanish, Italian, Korean
Booklet Languages: Italian, English, French, German
Region Code: 0 (All Region)

The possibility of Leonardo Vinci (1690-1730) ever being counted among the world’s great composers is pretty slim; he composed almost three dozen operas—both buffe and serie—and was particularly active in Naples. Judging from La Partenope, which here gets its first recording (taken from live performances in Murcia, Spain in April and May, 2011), he was a good craftsman who composed fine arias of both the introspective and showpiece variety, some quite beautiful.

The opera, composed in 1725, was a rush job—his success in 1724 in Venice with Iphigenia in Tauris led to a commission for another opera to be composed quickly. In 1722, Domenico Sarro had set a libretto by Silvio Stampiglia called Partenope; Vinci used not only the libretto but Sarro’s recitatives and a chorus or two. He cannibalized many of his own compositions for the needed arias, manipulated them, and crammed Stampiglia’s texts in to the music, eliminating much of the sense. (He also changed the opera’s name to Rosmira Fedele, which is the name given to it when Vivaldi set the same libretto as a pasticcio in 1738.)

The result is a plot that might make even the most avid archaeologist give up: all you need know is that Partenope was the (legendary) founder of Naples. Both Handel and Caldara set Stampiglia’s libretto as well. Vinci’s opera was a success when presented but quickly disappeared; in 2004 it was revived for the first time since its premiere with mostly the same forces recorded here.

The stars of the performance are Sonia Prina in the title role, and the orchestra, I Turchini, under Antonio Florio. The full orchestra, including winds, brass, and timpani—and audible continuo—play magnificently and with spunk and energy, never letting the “action” fall apart. And Prina is her usual, accurate, self; having to sound more feminine than in her trouser roles, her voice sounds lighter and she dispatches her coloratura with élan. The role of Arsace, originally for castrato (as were two others), sits low, and mezzo Maria Ercolano does well by it. Maria Grazia Schiavo’s Rosmira is lovely. The recording is a bit “in your face” but that adds some excitement. Not a masterpiece, but a good performance of a somewhat by-the-numbers rarity; certainly for the vocal- and baroque-curious.

-- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

Didone abbandonata was one of the greatest successes in the rather brief operatic career of Leonardo Vinci, a musician who had an adventurous life about which we still know very little. Written for Rome’s Teatro delle Dame, the opera was premiered during the 1726 Carnival season and marked the first collaboration between Vinci and Pietro Metastasio, a teamwork destined to produce abundant fruits, for in the four following years Metastasio would write as many as five new librettos for Vinci. It was immediately very successful, as was the Florentine production here presented, which was the first modern performance of Didone abbandonata, finally reviving one of the great masterpieces of early 18th-century opera. This production was recorded live at Teatro di Firenze and features a cast of Baroque specialists including Roberta Mameli, Carlo Allemano, and Raffaele Pe.