~ Baroque Opera ~

[Wakefield]

With a warm recommendation:



Live recording.

[Peter Power Pop]

With a warm recommendation:



Live recording.

Hopefully, she wasn't too bothered by the butterflies when she was singing.

[Wakefield]

Hopefully, she wasn't too bothered by the butterflies when she was singing.

Yes! She was a true professional. 

I think it's a nice cover.

[JCBuckley]

With a warm recommendation:



Live recording.

I was going to buy this, but hesitated after reading a less than enthusiastic review on Amazon by someone whose judgement I usually trust. The review concludes: 'It seems to me that, while Caldara did his job with this score like a good professional, his heart wasn't really in the libretto's nonsense. It's attractive music on the whole, but I've heard much better from this composer especially in his sacred, as well as his genuinely heartfelt secular music. Having said that, Andrea Marcon and his excellent musicians make the best possible case for this revival of a work which, to my ears at least, is by no means in the top rank by the standards of this composer.'

A nonsensical libretto isn't in itself a deterrent, but would you rate the music more highly than this reviewer does?

[JCBuckley]

Does anybody have a view on this? It's just become available in the UK, and I'm very tempted, having been wowed by Reyne's Rameau.

[Wakefield]

I was going to buy this, but hesitated after reading a less than enthusiastic review on Amazon by someone whose judgement I usually trust. The review concludes: 'It seems to me that, while Caldara did his job with this score like a good professional, his heart wasn't really in the libretto's nonsense. It's attractive music on the whole, but I've heard much better from this composer especially in his sacred, as well as his genuinely heartfelt secular music. Having said that, Andrea Marcon and his excellent musicians make the best possible case for this revival of a work which, to my ears at least, is by no means in the top rank by the standards of this composer.'

A nonsensical libretto isn't in itself a deterrent, but would you rate the music more highly than this reviewer does?

Yes, it's great fun.

Music and interpretation are excellent. One of the best things recorded this year in the Baroque field. 

[JCBuckley]

Damn. I thought I might be able to save a bit of cash there, but evidently I have to buy it.

[Peter Power Pop]

With a warm recommendation:



Live recording.

I was going to buy this, but hesitated after reading a less than enthusiastic review on Amazon by someone whose judgement I usually trust. The review concludes: 'It seems to me that, while Caldara did his job with this score like a good professional, his heart wasn't really in the libretto's nonsense. It's attractive music on the whole, but I've heard much better from this composer especially in his sacred, as well as his genuinely heartfelt secular music. Having said that, Andrea Marcon and his excellent musicians make the best possible case for this revival of a work which, to my ears at least, is by no means in the top rank by the standards of this composer.'

A nonsensical libretto isn't in itself a deterrent, but would you rate the music more highly than this reviewer does?

Yes, it's great fun.

Music and interpretation are excellent. One of the best things recorded this year in the Baroque field. 

Damn. I thought I might be able to save a bit of cash there, but evidently I have to buy it.

There are some excerpts on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/v/Wy4dyqC0gW8

http://www.youtube.com/v/dZfAmnsPI3k

http://www.youtube.com/v/-usuqj1__G4

http://www.youtube.com/v/HjkdzvjK6nE


And you can hear samples of five tracks over at SoundCloud:

https://soundcloud.com/deutschegrammophon/sets/andrea-marcon-antonio-caldara-la-concordia-de-pianeti

Album details:

http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4793356

[Que]

New release!

Glossa devotes it latest Rameau offering to a further ballet héroïque, 'Les Fêtes de Polymnie', directed by György Vashegyi, featuring Aurélia Legay, Emöke Barath and Mathias Vidal, led by the incomparable Véronique Gens in arious vocal roles that appear in the Prologue and the three Entrées of this work. Composed in 1745, an annus mirabilis for France, Rameau, aided by his reformist librettist Louis de Cahusac s preferences for choruses and ballets, conjured up in addition to sparkling arias and recitatives a dazzling mosaic of intermèdes, passacailles, chaconnes and descriptive symphonies interspersed with vivid choral contributions, which the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra deliver with refinement and spirit on this new recording of the festivities. As with the recent 'Les Fêtes de l Hymen et de l Amour' (conducted by Hervé Niquet), this modern-day revindication of 'Les Fêtes de Polymnie' is matched by an essay about the score (placed within its historical context) from Benoît Dratwicki of the supporting institution for this recording, the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles.

Q

[Peter Power Pop]

New release!



Q

More Rameau? Yes please.

[Purusha]

I like Rameau's keyboard works, but his operas don't seem to do much for me. The one i tried (Zoroastre) seemed to be rather... scant, musically speaking. Not sure what to make of it. Perhaps i need more time, but it felt like the music was there mainly to help the drama along and didn't stand that well on its own. Are all his operas like this?

[Peter Power Pop]

I like Rameau's keyboard works, but his operas don't seem to do much for me. The one i tried (Zoroastre) seemed to be rather... scant, musically speaking. Not sure what to make of it. Perhaps i need more time, but it felt like the music was there mainly to help the drama along and didn't stand that well on its own. Are all his operas like this?

Nope.

For dramatic heft: Hippolyte et Aricie

For dramatic heft (with extra sadness): Castor et Pollux

For non-stop glorious tunes: Les fêtes d'Hébé

For spectacle (and non-stop glorious tunes): Les Indes galantes

However, my favourite Rameau opera is Les Boréades. It has all of the above.

[Que]

More... 

[Que]

Newish ... arias compared by Gluck and Antonio Sacchini - anyone heard it already?

All additional information I could find is in German...

[Que]

Nice..and intriguing..

Who was this guy? 



G. A. Brescianellos (1690-1758). Tisbe, based on the popular tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, was the result of a commission from the Duke Eberhard IV Ludwig of Wurttemberg to his court composer to write a work to conclude the Carnival season 1718/19. Il Giusto Barocco rediscovered the opera in the Württemberg State Library, submitted it to musicological scrutiny, and rendered it once again performable. Jorg Halubek and Il Giusto Baroccodemonstrate they now have a place in the first ranks of German baroque orchestras. [Opernwelt, following the 2012 concert premiere]

Q

[Decaffeinato]

I'm apparently going to be going to a performance of Rodelinda.  Can anyone give me an idea of what i'm in for?  This will be the first baroque opera I've attended in person.

[Peter Power Pop]

I'm apparently going to be going to a performance of Rodelinda.  Can anyone give me an idea of what i'm in for?  This will be the first baroque opera I've attended in person.

Here's the music:

http://www.youtube.com/v/9zu4Ry50RDk

[Peter Power Pop]

I'm apparently going to be going to a performance of Rodelinda.  Can anyone give me an idea of what i'm in for?  This will be the first baroque opera I've attended in person.

Is this the production you're going to by any chance?

http://opera.culturaldistrict.org/production/40598/Rodelinda



RODELINDA

CAPA Theater
Pittsburgh Opera
412-456-6666
January 24, 2015 - February 1, 2015

NEW PRODUCTION!

In one of Handel's most popular operas, Queen Rodelinda endures grief, terror, and political upheaval, but remains steadfastly loyal as she waits – and works – to bring her exiled husband home. Starring our Resident Artists, with special guests Chatham Baroque</a>. [url=http://www.pittsburghopera.org/pages/Jasmine_Muhammad]Jasmine Muhammad</a> takes the title role of the Lombard queen Rodelinda; [url=http://www.pittsburghopera.org/pages/Corrie_Stallings]Corrie Stallings</a> takes the "pants role" of Bertarido; [url=http://www.pittsburghopera.org/pages/Laurel_Semerdjian]Laurel Semerdjian</a> portrays the lady-in-waiting Eduige, while [url=http://www.pittsburghopera.org/pages/Phillip_Gay]Phillip Gay is the henchman Garibaldo. Carnegie Mellon School of Drama is once again our partner for set design, and Chatham Baroque players will lend their authentic style to the orchestral playing. Crystal Manich (Aida, 2013) directs; Baroque specialist Michael Beattie</a> (Rinaldo, 2011) conducts.

[JCBuckley]

Coming in June:

[Drasko]

Coming in June:

That is very interesting. Campra's Tancrede is singular among French Tragedie Lyrique in fact that female lead asks for dramatic mezzo, a voice rarely heard in French baroque. I never had the chance to hear it, the only existing full recording under Malgoire has been out of print for ages.