lunedì 21 luglio 2014

Nicola Antonio Porpora - Passio

9 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - 111 RAR Mb




Nicola Porpora (1686-1768) was a Neapolitan composer, predominantly of operas, who enjoyed a long, itinerant and fashionable career. He famously gave Handel a run for his money during a stint in London, from 1733 to 1737. This disc aims to reveal a different side to Porpora's character: under the title Passio, it interweaves his Six Latin Duets on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, written for the Saxon court in 1754, with Fugues from a collection of keyboard works he composed the same year. The Duets – shared between two sopranos, mezzo and baritone, and accompanied only by organ and cello – are sparse liturgical scenas in which operatic form is stripped down to its absolute essentials. The Fugues, performed here in an edition by Muzio Clementi (1752-1832), are more conventional, but still stray into austere and uncompromising harmonic territory. They're gracefully played on the harpsichord by Andrea Friggi, who is also the organist for the Duets. The latter are conducted by Stefano Aresi and sung, with great forthrightness and not a whiff of sensuality, by Emanuela Galli, Francesca Cassinari, Marina de Liso and Fulvio Bettini. An acquired taste, but nicely done.


contents:


Duetto 1: Crimen Adae quantum constat
Duetto 2: Rigate lacrimis
Duetto 3: Mortis causa tu fuisti
Violin Sonata No. 5 in G Minor: II. Fuga
Duetto 4: In hoc vexillo Crucis
Duetto 5: Tamquam agnus immolatur
Duetto 6: Ab imo pectore
Violin Sonata No. 6 in C Major: II. Fuga
Miserere


Stile Galante
dir. Stefano Aresi

1 commento: