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In the eighteenth century, 1,300 years after the last Olympic Games in ancient times, the Olympic theme was highly fashionable. Many composers based operas on the libretto L'Olimpiade by Metastasio. This recording has been structured to contain all of Metastasio’s original arias; it is a pasticcio in the sense that the music is by 16 different composers amongst the many that set the libretto between 1733 and the end of the century.
This new release includes 16 arias in world-premiere recording.
Leonardo Leo: L'olimpiade
L'olimpiade: Sinfonia
Johann Adolf Hasse: L'Olimpiade
L'Olimpiade, Act I: Superbo di me stesso
Baldassare Galuppi: L'olimpiade
L'olimpiade, Act I: Quel destrier, che all'albergo e vicino
Giuseppe Sarti: Olimpiade
Olimpiade, Act I: Oh care selve, oh cara felice liberta!
Josef Myslivecek: L'olimpiade, EvaM 10:C12
L'olimpiade, EvaM 10:C12, Act I: Del destin non vi lagnate
Giovanni Paisiello: Olimpiade
Olimpiade, Act I: Tu di saper procura
David Perez: Olimpiade
Olimpiade, Act I: Piu non si trovano
Antonio Vivaldi: L'Olimpiade, RV 725
L'Olimpiade, RV 725, Act I: Mentre dormi, Amor fomenti
Florian Leopold Gassmann: L'olimpiade
L'olimpiade, Act I: Nei giorni tuoi felici
Antonio Caldara: L'olimpiade
L'olimpiade, Act II: Grandi, e ver, son le tue pene
Tommaso Traetta: Olimpiade
Olimpiade, Act II: Che non mi disse un di!
L'Olimpiade
L'Olimpiade, Act II: Siam navi all'onde algenti
Olimpiade
Olimpiade, Act II: Del forte Licida
Niccolo Jommelli: L'olimpiade
L'olimpiade, Act II: So ch'e fanciullo Amore
Luigi Cherubini: Olimpiade
Olimpiade, Act II: Se cerca, se dice: "L'amico dov'e?"
Leonardo Leo: L'olimpiade
L'olimpiade, Act II: Tu me da me dividi
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: L'Olimpiade
L'Olimpiade, Act II: No, la speranza più non mi alletta
L'olimpiade
L'olimpiade, Act II: Gemo in un punto, e fremo
Niccolo Piccinni: Olimpiade
Olimpiade, Act III: Caro, son tua cosi
L'olimpiade
L'olimpiade, Act III: Lo seguitai felice
Olimpiade
Olimpiade, Act III: Fiamma ignota nell'alma mi scende
L'Olimpiade
Act III: Son qual per mare ignoto
Act III: I tuoi strali terror de' mortali
Domenico Cimarosa: L'olimpiade
L'olimpiade, Act III: Non so donde viene
L'Olimpiade
L'Olimpiade, Act III: Viva il figlio delinquente
“Within individual numbers the performances can be thrilling...the band nimbly negotiates the huge range of effects demanded by this composite score...Franziska Gottwald is spellbinding in Vivaldi's 'Mentre dormi', combining tenderness, warm timbres and awesome pianissimos. Sprightly and silver-toned, Ruth Rosique tosses off Tommaso Traetta's fioritura with courtly ease.”
September 2012
“if you treat the discs as a succession of concert arias there is much to enjoy here...the Venice Baroque Orchestra play with their trademark zest and colour...If the soloists can be word-shy, all sing with skill and stylistic understanding...Romina Basso impresses with her fiery temperament and scintillating coloratura...Nicholas Phan fields a compact, mellifluous tenor...The palm, though, goes to Karina Gauvin's Argene”
June 2012
“Vivaldi's sole contribution, 'Mentre dormi', stands head and shoulders above the rest...The playing of the Venice Baroque Orcehstra under Chryssicos is extremely fine, full-blooded and alert string-playing with characterful wind contributions. This is a useful exploration of the compositional history of L'Olimpiade in attractive performances and I hope that complete versions by some of these composers are forthcoming once the Olympic frenzy is over.”
27th May 2012
“The plot concerns the usual opera seria conflicts of loyalty, love and power, all set off by a deception. It amounts to a sequence of seemingly disconnected arias, but there’s not a dud among them.”
The Arts Desk
18th August 2012
“There are no obvious duds, though the best items do come from the few composers whose names are still remembered – a glorious Cherubini aria sung by Romina Basso’s Megacle in Act II and Cimarosa’s Non sò donde viene at the close of Act III...Comprehensively annotated, very well recorded and beautifully played”
20th May 2012
“Sung and played with freshness and spirit by the Venice Baroque and six youthful soloists, this disc – full of showpiece da capo arias and gleeful coloratura – may up your game on the obscure opera front.”
L'olimpiade: Sinfonia
