SACDs - Scarlatti, A

Profano e Sacro, the new album by the young Belgian countertenor Dominique Corbiau, conveys you on a journey into the baroque music of Italy, exploring the vocal work of composer Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725).

Presenting four overtures and twenty infinitely contrasting yet refined arias made of simple, immediately appealing melodies, this disc is superbly performed by the sensual and mellifluous voice of Dominique Corbiau and accompanied by the many talents of La Cetra d'Orfeo under the ever inventive and colorful baton of Michel Keustermans.

Profano e Sacro will be for many a double discovery; that of a young singer with a growing reputation, and an exciting introduction to a fascinating but seldom recorded repertoire.

This disc has already piqued a lot of interest across continental Europe and is currently at Number 1 in the Belgian Classical Chart!

An outstanding performance of Alessandro Scarlatti’s six Concerti Grossi by one of the leading early music ensembles on the international scene, Accademia Bizantina under its musical director Ottavio Dantone, is featured on this hybrid SACD, which has been re-mastered from an original 24bit stereo recording which was originally released on Arts in 2003. The disc also includes Scarlatti’s three cello sonatas played by one of the groups regular soloists Mauro Valli.

Founded in Ravenna, Italy, in 1983, the Accademia Bizantina is a group of talented musicians with diverse musical interests who came together to form a self-managed group where music could be made in an atmosphere of research and historical understanding. Over the years the ensemble has produced a string of critically acclaimed recordings for labels such as Decca, Harmonia Mundi, and Naïve as well as Arts. Alessandro Scarlatti’s Six Concertos in seven parts (Concerti Grossi) were published in London by Benjamin Cooke in 1740. The date of composition is unknown. The fact that they were published some fifteen years after the composer's death was quite unusual for that time, and it is possible that the publisher was cashing in on the popularity of the Scarlatti name, since Alessandro’s son Domenico had been a great success on a trip to London two years earlier.