Assisi Christmas Cantatas

Ziesak, Ruth;
L'Arte del mondo;
Ehrhardt, Werner

PE 149

The convent of St Francis in Assisi is a place of pilgrimage and the founding location of the Franciscan order. In the baroque period novices hoping to enter the order were trained in music, and there is a long musical tradition there. Most of the performances here are world premiere recordings of baroque vocal compositions from the library of the convent of St Francis in Assisi. All the vocal pieces are for soprano solo (combined with solo alto in Finale's `Oh Quam Jubilat'), and it is thought that the solos may have been sung by young men. Here they are taken by very fine female singers, and the accompanying ensemble is made up of top players. • The pieces in this excellent program are very well chosen and sequenced. Two instrumental pieces frame the vocal works: at the start, Melani's splendid sonata for two trumpets, two violins, and continuo is noble, grand, and festive; at the end, we find one of the best performances of Corelli's Christmas Concerto (from Opus 8). L'Arte Del Mondo plays with high energy and tender spirit. The ensemble is tight, rhythms are vigorous, and lyrical melodies (as in the Corelli adagios) are well formed but never stretched out of shape. • All the compositions are interesting and inventive, with a lot of variety in the writing, making this a high-quality addition to the discography. Arias range from the pastoral (most pieces have one triple-meter section) to honor the shepherds' welcoming the Christ Child into this world, to the exultant--the opening and closing arias in Porpora's `Stelle Lucide' are models here. A touchingly intimate aria is Lazzari's final motet section, a triplemeter lullaby on the beautiful, sonorous, and murmuring text, `Dulcissimo, purissimo, tenellulo, puellulo'. One can see the Child in his mother's arms. This scene takes place just before the Corelli concerto, which runs its joyful course, ending quietly in the presence of the new birth. -- American Record Guide, Catherine Moore, November-December 2009

CD

Muzyka klasyczna

Phoenix Edition

23-10-2008

811691011493