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16 April 2012

Stradella: Italian Cantatas


Easy CD-DA | FLAC tracks | Covers | 271 Mb
2 CD | Date CD: 11/15/2011 | Brilliant

CD 1


Alessandro Stradella must have felt himself all the emotions expressed in the poetry of his arias , as his turbulent (love) life ended in his assassination by a jealous rival.
Stradella’s music is of the highest quality, and as such receives more and more attention nowadays. Superb performances on period instruments by Harmonices Mundi/Claudio Astronio and the great Swedish soprano Susanne Rydén.
Alessandro Stradella composed in nearly every genre - sacred and secular, and is credited with composing the first instrumental concerto grosso, and many of his operas have accompanied recitatives.Two of them also contain the earliest mad scenes. It is perhaps in his vocal works that we can hear how innovative this composer was – Stradella posessed a rare feel and insight on the texts he set.
Combined with his total mastery of counterpoint which produced extraordinary interplay between vocal and instrumental parts, he stands out among his contemporaries as a literary and musical dramatist of the highest order. The themes of the arias all concern love in its various guises – adoration, tenderness, mad passion, longing, praising beauty and physical attributes, its harshness and fickle nature, the darker side of love that leads to jealousy, rage and spite, and finally to love’s dissolution…. with perhaps a return to its embrace one day. Although the music is over 300 years old, and the names of the poets unknown, Stradella’s music speaks to us in a thoroughly modern way. This is music of emotional depth that sounds as fresh today as it did in the late 17th century.
“In every case, Stradella displays an unerring insight into the texts (some of which he may have written himself), flawlessly marrying them to music moving fluidly between simply recitative, arioso and full-blown aria, thereby transforming essentially lightweight entertainments into miniature dramatic masterpieces.”
Record Review
tracklist:

CD 1

Toccata
E pazzia innamorarsi
Mio cor, che si fa?
Che mi giovan le vittorie
Fedeltà sinchè spirto in petto avrò
Adorata libertà, dal mio core non partir
Parti, fuggi dal mio seno
Il mio cor per voi, luci belle
Pria di scior quel dolce nodo
Begl'occhi, il vostro piangere
Se di gioie m'alletta il sereno
Cara e dolce libertà
Deh, frenate i furori
Non fia mai, ah no, ch'io speri
S'Amor m'annoda il piede
Le luci vezzose volgetemi, o Clori
Quanto è bella la mia stella
Ogni sguardo che tu scocchi

CD 2

Chi mi disse che amor dà tormento
Pensier ostinato
Al rigor di due tiranni
Da Filinda aver chi può
Speranze smarrite
Il mio cor ch'è infelicissimo
Dell'ardore ch'il core distempra
Chi vuol libero il suo pie'
Delizie, contenti
Chi non porta amor nel petto
Chi avesse visto un core
Dormite, occhi, dormite
Deh, vola, o desio
Avete torto, occhi miei cari
Ti lascierò e a poco a poco
Torna, Amor, dammi il mio bene
Destatevi, o sensi, risvegliati, onore
Avrà pur d'aspettar più?
Bel tempo, addio, son fatto amante

Harmonices Mundi:

Susanne Rydén, soprano
Martin Oro, countertenor
Lisandro Abadie, baritone
Alessandro Palmeri, cello
Pietro Prosser, theorbo, lute, baroque guitar
Hedwig Raffeiner, Rossella Croce, violin
Claudio Astronio, organ, harpsichord, conductor

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