The renowned music historian Charles Burney counted Giovanni Rubinelli (1753-1829) among the three great castrato voices of the late 18th century. At a time when the era of opera seria and castrati was drawing to a close, Rubinelli was one of it's last great protagonists. Numerous composers wrote specifically for his voice, which was not the favored high soprano voice of a castrato, but that of a contralto. This program traces Rubinelli's artistic career. He made his debut in Ludwigsburg at the age of 16 in Calliroe by Antonio Sacchini, sang in Antonio Salieri's Europa riconosciuta at the inauguration of La Scala in Milan in 1778, and made guest appearances in London in the late 1780s, performing in Handel's Julius Caesar, among other works. Countertenor Filippo Mineccia gives an emotive and virtuoso performance, creating a historical portrait of a singer who also stands for the development of opera from the virtuosity of the castrato stars to the sensitive arias of the new simplicity of Gluck's opera reform.
The new recording project by La Compagnia del Madrigale is dedicated to the Ninth Book of Madrigals (1588) by Giaches de Wert. Wert-Flemish by birth but active for most of his life in Italy at the Gonzaga court in Mantua-embodies the figure of the great composer capable of transcending fashion to create art that, as they used to say in the sixteenth century, is destined to remain durable and eternal. The Ninth Book, published during a period of personal tribulation and heartbreak over his thwarted love for the poetess Tarquinia Molza, marks a pinnacle of artifice and pathos. Here, Wert explores the heights of Petrarch's Canzoniere, alongside verses by Torquato Tasso, Jacopo Sannazaro, and Battista Guarini, alternating luminous courtly homages with an innovative lyricism that foreshadows the style of Carlo Gesualdo. La Compagnia del Madrigale - one of the world-leading ensembles in the performance of Monteverdi, Marenzio, Gesualdo, and Rore - delivers these pages with absolute artistic excellence.
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber is one of the most important violinists of the Baroque period, and his virtuoso violin works are among the gems of this era. His Rosary Sonatas are particularly outstanding: in a cycle of 16 sonatas, Biber sets to music the mysteries of the various Rosary prayers that trace the life of Jesus. As a special feature, Biber uses the so-called scordatura technique, in which the strings of the violin are retuned. Biber requires a new tuning for each sonata, thus creating a new sound for each mystery and a great increase in tension throughout the cycle. Leila Schayegh explores Biber's rosary mysteries with great sensitivity. With her stupendous technique, she plays even the most difficult passages with great purity, portraying Biber's master cycle as a very intimate and atmospheric soundscape.
The stylish energy and outstanding taste with which conductor Gyorgy Vashegyi presents his interpretations of Baroque French masterpieces, which had largely been forgotten since their premiere, place him among the ranks of the great rediscoverers of recent decades, including William Christie, Herve Niquet and Christophe Rousset, to name but a few. The fact that he works from Budapest with his ensembles Orfeo Orchestra and Purcell Choir, which are mainly composed of Hungarian musicians, makes the undertaking even more fascinating. But let us not forget, of course, that all these 'French Baroque projects' are supported by the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, which also promote the participation of first-class vocal soloists specialising in French Baroque, such as those we find on this new recording on Glossa. Chantal Santon Jeffery, Judith van Wanroij, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Jerome Boutillier and Jehanne Amzal join forces with these magnificent instrumentalists, singers and conductor to present us with a Wonderful recording of a very late Baroque work: Omphale by Jean-Baptiste Cardonne. The plot can be read anywhere (including in the Glossa booklet!), but it is not far from what one would expect. Enjoy the wonderful arias, instrumental interludes and choral pieces. The Baroque was close to come to an end in 1769, and this is a last opportunity.
