W.A.Mozart - Castrato Arias

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It may come as a surprise to learn that a number of Mozart soprano arias were originally written for the powerhouse voice of the castrato. Mozart's career, in fact, coincided with the beginning of the end for the castrato tradition, and the final piece included here, "Voi che sapete" from Le nozze di Figaro, was in fact not written for a castrato; by 1786 they were becoming scarce. Romanian countertenor Valer Sabadus' recital is short at just under 50 minutes, and the blooming sacred aria Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165, which was written for one of the castrati whose careers are represented here, might have made a stronger finale. This aside, many lovers of Mozart opera will appreciate this release. It's not just the attractively smooth, if a bit monochromatic, voice of Sabadus, which has plenty of delicacy in quieter upper-register passages. It's the chance to hear arias like "Non ho colpa" from Idomeneo, rè di Creta, K. 366, where the male voice suggests a different kind of balance with the dense, energetic orchestral writing that characterizes this over-the-top opera seria. The alert, adequately sized support from the re-creation-Großes Orchester Graz under Michael Hofstetter is also a plus here, and there's no denying that the creamy singing of Sabadus is a pleasure to hear in the lighter comic-opera pieces earlier in the program. Oehms delivers very nice sound from a pair of live recitals in a concert hall in Graz in December 2013. Presenters distressed by audience coughing may wish to retain Stefianiensaal personnel as consultants: they somehow managed to suppress every trace of it.

contents:

La finta giardiniera, KV 196

Se l'augellin sen fugge
Dolce d'amor compagna

Lucio Silla, KV 135
    
Ouvertüre
Pupille amate
Il tenero momento

La clemenza di Tito, KV 621

 
Deh, per questo istante solo

Idomeneo, Rè di Creta, KV 366
    
Non ho colpa

Le nozze di Figaro, KV 492
    
Voi che sapete

Valer Sabadus, countertenor

Großes Orchester Graz
dir. Michael Hofstetter

Servaas de Koninck - Love and Drinking Songs of the Netherlands

40 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 116 Mb

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"Servaas de Koninck was an immigrant, like many of his collegues in late 17th century Amsterdam. Born in 1654 in Dendermonde, Flanders, he served from 1663 until 1665 as a chorister in St. Jacob's Church in Ghent. From 1675 he studied at Louvain University, and settled in Brussels five years later. He moved to Amsterdam in 1685, where he frequented the theatrical circles of society. He died in 1701, not yet fifty years old. He was a a relatively productive composer, leaving behind seven opus numbers of varying sorts of music. Estienne Roger of Amsterdam published them all between 1696 and 1699. There are extant collections of sonatas for one and two flutes, with and without figured bass; the choruses for the tragedy Athalie of the French playwright Racine; two sets of trios; the Dutch love and drinking songs; and a volume of motets. Several more individual works in both manuscript and print can also be attributed to de Koninck.
Although the names of most of de Koninck's 'librettists' are known, the identity of the poet who wrote the lyrics for the Dutch love and drinking songs remains unknown. Characteristic of de Konincks Dutch love-and drinking songs are the explicit and frequent indications of French style and Italian style. The French style clearly harks back to Lully, with an introverted and refined style, an idiom de Koninck had fully mastered. The Italian style is exuberant and expressive, but in this publication markedly less frequent. Even so, this juxtaposition of styles typifies the international and eclectic musical environment found in Amsterdam at the end of the seventeenth century."

contents:

01. Ah! dat ik ook een hontje was
02. Trio Rigaudon
03. Gelijk de beekjes
04. Minlyke lust
05. Nu dat ik u myn ziel
06. Helas!
07. Hebt gy niet
08. Mijn vader dwong my
09. Laat uw fierheit
10. Volge wy de minnegloet
11. O! doodelyke spyt
12. Trio
13. Stond my geen quaad te duchten
14. Ach! Phyllis!
15. Trio
16. Eens myn vryheid weer
17. Gigue
18. Fier onderwind keachtlooze waan
19. Trio: Grave
20. In dit zoet en vermaakelyk dal
21. Symphonie (Athalie)
22. Vreest niet, schoone Cloris
23. Symphonie (Athalie)
24. Prelude
25. Trio
26. Ik kan uw schoon gezicht niet langer
27. Trio
28. Een weinig min
29. In het glaasjen of myn Tryntjen
30. Plainte
31. Overzoete nachtegaalen
32. Trio
33. 't minnezoet lykt wat van buiten
34. Louis Bourbon
35. Weg Lompe, zyt gy dol
36. Die zich begeeft tot Minnen
37. Zoete rust van myn ziel
38. Ik volg u naa
39. In dit veld vol gebloemt'
40. Gy wilt my vlien
41. Gy beklaagt uw verliefde zinnen
42. Geeft my, schoone, een gunstig woort
43. O! zoet en teer geneugt
44. Chaconne

Dopo Emilio

 Liesbeth Houdijk - soprano
Michiel Niessen - lute, theorbo
David van Ooijen - theorbo, baroque guitar
Gesina Liedmeier - lira da gamba, lyra viol, viola da gamba

with

Sytse Buwalda - alto
Joost van der Linden - tenor
Tom Sol - bass

and

Basil de Visser - violin
Rachael Yates - violin

Avanti L'opera: An A-Z of Italian Baroque Overtures

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Early-music pioneers Charivari Agréable perform an engaging collection of overtures from Italian Baroque Opera, best described by Kah-Ming Ng as being “lucidly crafted for the purpose of turning heads”.

In a decadent era when the antics of theatre-goers were often as intriguing as the performances taking place on stage, these works were composed with the express intention of thrilling, beguiling and engaging an often hard-to-impress audience.

contents:

Attilio ARIOSTI: Vespasiano

Leonardo LEO: Catone in Utica

Giovanni BONONCINI: Cefalo

Antonio CALDARA: L'Olimpiade

Carlo Francesco POLLAROLO: La Proserpine

Alessandro SCARLATTI: La Statira

Giovanni Bononcini, Turno Aricino

Giovanni Bononcini, Il trionfo di Camilla

Giuseppe Antonio BERNABEI: L'Ascanio

Bernardo PASQUINI: L'Idalma

Tomaso Giovanni ALBINONI: Zenobia

Pietro Andrea ZIANI: Il Talamo

Carlo Francesco POLLAROLO: Gl'inganni felici

Giovanni LEGRENZI: Il Totila,

Agostino STEFFANI: La lotta d'Alcide con Acheloo

Alessandro SCARLATTI: La caduta di Decemviri

Francesco Bartolomeo CONTI: Il trionfo della fama

Charivari Agréable

dir. Kah-Ming Ng