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Presto News - 23rd July 2012L’Olimpiade: The Opera |
 Even the relatively un-sporty atmosphere in the Presto editorial office has been shaken up by the forthcoming London 2012 Games – not being ‘shaped for sportive tricks’, however, I think this newly-constructed Olimpiade is likely to be the closest I get to Olympic Fever! No newly-discovered manuscript, this, but instead a fascinating compendium of various composers’ responses to a single libretto by the great eighteenth-century poet Metastasio.  Astonishingly, over fifty composers set Metastasio’s libretto to music. While many of these settings have long since disappeared or continue to languish in various European libraries, this project has brought together selected arias from sixteen composers, including Antonio Caldara (who collaborated with Metastasio for the original setting in 1733, when the project was commissioned to mark the wedding of Emperor Charles VI) and Baldassare Galuppi who, according to the booklet-note, was well into the composition process before he realised that literally dozens of composers had pipped him to the post! Almost all the arias are world-premiere recordings: only Vivaldi’s contribution, I think, has been committed to disc before, by both Magdalena Kozena and Philippe Jaroussky. The concept of the pasticcio seems a slightly odd one today, but to eighteenth-century audiences it was standard fare. Star singers were wont to roll up to a production with ‘suitcase-arias’ which they’d sung to great acclaim elsewhere, but because one libretto was often set by multiple composers this was only rarely problematic. (The ‘moveable feast’ idea was also helped by the fact that the conventions of the genre also meant that stock emotional states tended to be depicted through a fairly limited bank of metaphors: it’s possible to slot an aria about a ship caught in a tempest into pretty much any baroque opera you care to name!) The (appropriately, Greek!) musical director Markellos Chryssicos has selected arias from right across the libretto’s fifty-year period in the limelight, ranging from Caldara’s original (just one number crops up – Aristea’s Grandi, e ver) to Paisiello’s Tu di saper procuro, dating from 1786. The finished article is a pleasing hotchpotch of high baroque, Rococo and early-Classical styles, and whilst the arias aren’t arranged chronologically I didn’t feel that any of the stylistic transitions were jarring. I have to say that that complete absence of connecting recitative did jar for me ever so slightly (we don’t get to hear most of the key narrative revelations themselves, but instead cut straight to the characters’ reactions), but I’m sure many others will regard this as a distinct positive! Most of the arias made me want to investigate the complete settings further, and it’s good to make the acquaintance of some relatively obscure figures (Davide Perez, anyone?), but for me the laurels go to Hasse, whose contributions include Megacle’s bravura opening number and Siam nave oligente (the obligatory ‘storm-tossed ship’ moment) with a gloriously manic bassoon obbligato! Romina Basso’s robust, flexible mezzo is made for this repertoire (along with two of her colleagues here, she’s already recorded Galuppi’s setting in its entirety, though in a different role), and tonally she’s a great foil for Franziska Gottwald as her friend/rival Licida – I’d not come across this singer before, but her pleasantly brittle timbre reminded me of the young Magdalena Kozena. Nicholas Phan, another relative newcomer, sounds incredibly youthful as the doddery old king but his distinctive, never-less-than-beautiful sound left me craving a full-length disc of arias. Fingers crossed for that, and for complete recordings of the finest settings – starting, ideally, with the Hasse. There are sound samples and a short video on the website (although the latter has to come with a health warning as the sound quality and balance on the video in no way represents the quality of the recording, which is excellent throughout!).
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 L'Olimpiade: The OperaRomina Basso (Megacle), Franziska Gottwald (Licida), Karina Gauvin (Argene), Nicholas Phan (Clistene), Ruth Rosique (Aristea), Nicholas Spanos (Aminta), Venice Baroque Orchestra, Markellos Chryssicos |
Katherine Cooper - katherine@prestoclassical.co.uk |
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Watch: A short video trailerNew Releases23rd July 2012 |
This is just the pick of the recent releases. The New Releases and Future Releases pages are always available for browsing all the new and forthcoming releases. |
 Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-10 (Complete)Midori Seiler (violin) & Jos van Immerseel (piano)After a recording of the great Mozart violin sonatas awarded a Diapason d’Or some years ago, Midori Seiler and Jos van Immerseel now present the complete Beethoven sonatas, with their dialogue between two instruments now on an equal footing, in which the partners have roles of the same importance. |
 Victoria: Officium DefunctorumCollegium Vocale Gent, Philippe HerrewegheTomás Luis de Victoria is definitely one of the most important composers in the music history of Spain. His masterpiece is the ‘Officium Defunctorum’, published in Madrid in 1605. In this requiem – written for the funeral of Maria of Austria, daughter of Emperor Charles V – the composer reached a mystical intensity of expression. |
 Bruckner: Symphony No. 8 in C minorNetherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap van ZwedenJaap van Zweden, whose international reputation has burgeoned in recent years, has conducted numerous recordings including the complete Beethoven and Brahms symphonies. He is now midway through recording all the Bruckner symphonies with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra for Exton and Challenge Classics, with Symphonies Nos. 2, 4, 5, 7 and 9 already issued to great critical acclaim. This latest release features the massive Eighth Symphony which was the last that the composer completed. |
 Schieferdecker: Geistliche KonzerteJan Kobow (tenor), Klaus Mertens (bass), Hamburger Ratsmusik, Jan EckertSchieferdecker was a successor of Buxtehude in the Church of St. Mary in Lübeck. He continued the vision of ‘Opera in the Church’ but many of his works were lost. The cantatas featured here show how impressively he developed Buxtehude’s ideas.
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 Willaert: Vespro Della Beata VergineJoris Verdin (Organ Bologna, Basilica di San-Petronio), Capilla Flamenca, Dirk SnellingsThis year we celebrate the 450th anniversary of the death of the Flemish composer Adriaen Willaert, who had been maestro di cappella of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice long before Monteverdi occupied the post. Willaert was also the inventor of the Venetian polychoral technique, with choral groups placed in the various galleries of the church. |
 MacMillan Series Volume 1: Veni, Veni, EmmanuelGordan Nikolić (violin), Colin Currie (percussion), Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, James MacMillanThe world premiere recording of James MacMillan’s violin concerto A Deep But Dazzling Darkness, played by Gordan Nikolić, opens the first disc in a new Challenge Classic series in which the composer conducts the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic. It is heard alongside one of MacMillan’s most popular works, the remarkable concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel and Í (A Meditation on Iona) for strings and percussion, both performed by fellow Scot Colin Currie as percussion soloist. |
 Louis Spohr: The Forgotten MasterPaul Meyer (conductor & clarinet), Orchestre de Chambre de LausanneWe are only just beginning to rediscover the works of Louis Spohr (1784-1859), who was not only a composer, but also a virtuoso violinist, possibly the greatest conductor of his time, and a renowned teacher – a man who played a leading role in musical life in Germany in the nineteenth century. His works – almost three hundred, covering many genres – bear the mark of Viennese Classicism, but his harmonic research announces the advent of the Romantic period. |
 Death in Venice: The Opera By Benjamin BrittenDirected and edited by Tony PalmerTony Palmer’s film of Benjamin Britten’s opera Death in Venice, shot on location, is released on DVD for the first time on the director’s own label. Based on Thomas Mann’s masterly novella – also the source for Visconti’s famous movie – it follows the last days of a writer, disillusioned, in despair and nearing death, in disease-ridden Venice. The cast includes Robert Gard as Gustav von Aschenbach, John Shirley-Quirk as The Traveller, James Bowman as The Voice of Apollo, Vincent Redman as Tadzio, the object of Aschenbach’s infatuation, and Deanne Bergsma as Tadzio’s Mother. Steuart Bedford conducts the English Chamber Orchestra, and Peter Pears makes a special appearance. |
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