A. Scarlatti: Sedecia re di Gerusalemme

Alessandro Stradella Consort;
Velardi, Estévan

95537

A dramatic oratorio by the founder of Neapolitan opera in the early 18th century, in a critically praised period-instrument recording. Sedecia shares several characters with Verdi’s breakthrough opera of 1841, Nabucco. The narrative in both cases is drawn from an Old Testament tale of over-reaching military ambition, corrupted power, valorous young generals and a noble queen. Scarlatti’s oratorio of 1705-6 is no less absorbing in its way for all that Scarlatti respects the conventions of his genre rather than (unlike Verdi) subverting and remaking them anew. With only one other recording ever made, this studio account was warmly welcomed when it was first released in 1999. It is reissued here as the fifth in a series of albums dedicated to the major vocal works of Alessandro Scarlatti, masterminded by Estévan Velardi, a scholar-conductor who has done much to advance our understanding of this prolific yet under-appreciated master of dramatic narrative at a time when the genre of opera was still in its infancy.

CD x 2

Muzyka klasyczna

Brilliant Classics

13-11-2019

5028421955377