Utwory na płycie:

• Colista: Sinfonia a 3, W-K 30
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #01 Sinfonia
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #02 Amiche selve - Deste un tempo
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #03 Selve beate - Dove, Battista?
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #04 Soffin pur
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #05 Restate - Dove, Battista, dove?
• Lonati: Sinfonia
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #06 Invitto Herode
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #07 Volin pure lontano dal sen
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #08 Si, si dei tuoi - Anco in Cielo
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #09 Ma poi lasciando
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #10 Sorde dive
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #11 Non piu cedo - Non fia ver
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #12 Tuonera tra mille turbini
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #13 S'uccida il reo
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #14 Provera se questo Scettro
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 1 #15 Freni l'orgoglio
• Colista: Sinfonia a 3, W-K 32 - 1. Adagio
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #01 Vaghe ninfe nel giordano
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #02 Giorno si lieto - Anco il sol
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #03 O di questi occhi miei
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #04 Io per me non cangerei
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #05 Figlia, se un gran tesoro
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #06 Nel seren de' miei contenti
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #07 Deh, che piu tardi a consolar
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #08 Queste lagrime e sospiri
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #09 In questa dei - Provi pur
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #10 Il castigo - Morirai!
• Colista: Sinfonia a 3, W-K 32 - 2. Largo
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #11 Cadeste alfine - Su coronatemi
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #12 Chi nel comun gioire
• Stradella: San Giovanni Battista - Act 2 #13 Che gioire, che contento
• Colista: Sinfonia a 3, W-K 32 - 3. Allegro

Stradella was murdered in Genoa when he was forty-two years old. Until then he enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, collaborating with distinguished poets, producing over three hundred works in a variety of genres. His musical style is distinctive, characterized by fluid lines, great skill in counterpoint, and harmony which was tonal but which occasionally offers chords that were unusual then and striking even today. The oratorio San Giovanni Battista was written for performance on Palm Sunday in the Holy Year of 1675 where some fourteen oratorios were commissioned by the confraternity of the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini in Rome – an auspicious event. San Giovanni Battista is a deeply ‘Baroque’ score, vibrant, rhythmically insistent, requiring singers to perform phrases of difficult fiorituras or deeply moving legato lines. The libretto is dramatic and emotionally vivid, and the music is closely tied to the text, creating a distinctly operatic atmosphere described by the disc’s conductor Alessandro De Marchi as ‘a true Salome’. Hyperion is delighted to announce a new recording relationship with Academia Montis Regalis, of which this disc is the first fruit. The group’s previous recordings on French label Opus 111 have won many international awards. The Academia Montis Regalis Foundation started its courses in Baroque and Classical orchestral training in the town of Mondovi in 1994. The aim was to offer young Italian and foreign musicians interested in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century repertoire the opportunity to engage in a unique experience. Thus was born the Academia Montis Regalis, a period instrument orchestra that has been regularly directed by leading international early music specialists since the year of its foundation, including Ton Koopman, Jordi Savall, Christopher Hogwood, Reinhardt Goebel and many others. The principal director has for some years been Alessandro De Marchi, who has overseen an important project with the Academia Montis Regalis, recording all of Vivaldi’s manuscripts preserved in the National Library of Turin. Right from the start the training programme was accompanied by highly successful concert performances. Today the orchestra is a professional ensemble with a solid international reputation.

THE OBSERVER CD OF THE WEEK

'When you learn that Handel owned an early copy of the manuscript all the pieces begin to fall into place; here is a perfect example of the Italian manner that was to influence him so fundamentally … Each soloist is given masses of opportunity to display their bravura technique, both as individuals and jointly, when they comment on the action in some lovely choruses and madrigals … De Marchi really scores in his choice of soloists. Salome is sung by the exquisite soprano Anke Herman, Battista by the firm-voiced countertenor Martin Oro and the court counsellor by the excellent tenor Fredrik Akselberg, but the star of the disc is the bass Antonio Abete who as Herod thunders through some truly stunning arias' (The Observer)

'Stradella is probably more famous for having been murdered … than for his music. That's a pity, for the latter, vital, free-flowing and bold, is well worth exploration. The oratorio San Giovanni Battista, composed in 1675, is one of his finest works, a thrilling drama calling for virtuoso singing of the highest order. The Academia Montis Regalis's playing is wonderfully alive' (Sunday Times)

'Stradella's score, characterized by constant variety, is ravishing throughout … The whole band plays with tremendous panache and stylistic aplomb' (International Record Review)

'If you haven’t heard this recording, you won’t believe your ears…This is as stunning a piece and performance as I’ve heard from this era since Noah Greenberg introduced Salamone Rossi to us a half-century ago – possibly better, because the music is far more modern for its time. The strings of the Montis Regalis Academy dig and bite into the music with a relish far too rare nowadays. The singers…perform this music as if they really mean it, with a proper legato, vocal shading, and dramatic commitment that you must hear to believe. By the time the disc is ended, you are not only emotionally drained but also stunned. This is not just another 17th-century oratorio; this is a major masterpiece, musically and dramatically so original, innovative, and advanced…this one is the performance I’ll savor for a long time to come' (Fanfare, USA) 'The performance is very good, with some superb singing and great playing - the contrast between the concertino group and the orchestral tutti is very dramatic' (Early Music News)

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Recording details: March 2007; Oratorio Santa Croce, Mondovi, Italy; Produced by Mark Brown; Engineered by David Hinitt; Release date: January 2008;