There is definitely no lack of heroic roles in the Gluckian repertory apart from the very well-known Orfeo from Orfeo ed Euridice:
many memorable parts were assigned by this composer for the alto voice
(either male castratos or female contraltos) – and it is precisely this
repertory, written for excellent interpreters and yet still rarely
performed today, which is celebrated on this CD.
As
a consequence of a specific historical set of circumstances, Gluck had
the good fortune to work with the final alto singers of his generation:
not only Gaetano Guadagni, but also Giovanni Carestini, Vittoria Tesi
and many others. Until the first part of the 18th century, the contralto
register was the one especially favoured for heroic male roles and for
those of heroines en travesti. Much of this repertory remains
unexplored and of course unrecorded: with this new programme, Glossa
tries to help filling a somewhat unexplainable gap.
Sonia
Prina, one of the leading altos of her generation, teams up with the
fine Milanese laBarocca orchestra, conducted by Ruben Jais, for her first full-scale opera recital on disc: and this after having sung the
leading role in Handel’s pasticcio Catone, very recently released on Glossa, and anticipating her mind-blowing performance in Silla, another Handelian opera, with Fabio Biondi – to be presented in Autumn, as well on Glossa.
THE WHOLE BLOG IS CLASSY.
ResponderEliminarthank you very much