A Scarlatti Cantata per la Notte di Natale
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Arcangelo Corelli, (Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti
Label: Opus 111
Magazine Review Date: 3/1997
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 71
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: OPS30-156
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Abramo, il tuo sembiante (Christmas cantata) |
(Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer
(Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer Claudio Cavina, Alto Concerto Italiano Elena Cecchi Fedi, Soprano Rinaldo Alessandrini, Conductor Rossana Bertini, Soprano Sandro Naglia, Tenor Sergio Foresti, Bass |
| (12) Concerti Grossi, Movement: No. 8 in G minor, 'Christmas Concerto' |
Arcangelo Corelli, Composer
Arcangelo Corelli, Composer Concerto Italiano Rinaldo Alessandrini, Conductor |
Author: Nicholas Anderson
It is some three years since the release on disc of another performance of Alessandro Scarlatti’s Christmas piece Abramo, il tuo sembiante. That version was by the German ensemble La Stagione, directed by Michael Schneider. Now comes a second view of the work from Concerto Italiano, under harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini.
Abramo, il tuo sembiante, with its text by Silvio Stampiglia, better known for his opera librettos – Handel set his Serse (“Xerxes”) – is an extended cantata consisting of some 30 numbers. Its first performance took place in 1705 in the papal chapel at Rome. An unusual feature of the work, and an attractive one, is its presentation of the Nativity story through the mouths of five Old Testament prophets: Daniel, Abraham, Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah. This aspect, which gives it something of the character of an oratorio, has subsequently led to the piece being subtitled Cinque Profeti. Readers may wonder what Jeremiah is doing in a context as joyful as the Nativity. While his contribution is to see beyond the childhood of Christ to his suffering and death, he nevertheless is prevailed upon, rather charmingly, by his fellow prophets to partake in the joyful ensemble which concludes the piece.
Scarlatti demonstrated time and again in his serenatas that he was a master at sustaining musical interest by skilfully varied deployment of colour, rhythm and melody. The 14 arias – only one of them is a duet – encompass many contrasting affects and offer the listener a wide spectrum of melodic invention. Quite the loveliest of them is Daniel’s “Pargoletto in rozze fasce” (“Little child in rough swaddling clothes”). Happily, it is also sung with irresistible allure by Rossana Bertini, whose clear, strongly focused voice is the most appealing in a vocal line-up which is by and large impressive. The siciliano rhythm, some of the melodic contours, and the obbligato oboe all seem to foreshadow Dafne’s “Felicissima quest’alma” in Handel’s secular cantata Apollo e Dafne.
Choosing between the two versions is difficult but, in the end, my preference is for the newcomer. The performance is, perhaps, marginally more spontaneous and therefore more dramatically motivated. Each is prefaced by an instrumental work by Corelli, the present one containing the Christmas Concerto in G minor “per la Notte di Natale” from the composer’s Op. 6. Too late for the Christmas tree, alas, though Jeremiah’s contribution perhaps makes it a permissible adjunct to the Easter egg. Well worth hearing, though several pages of my booklet, containing Stampiglia’s text, were maddeningly blank.'
Scarlatti demonstrated time and again in his serenatas that he was a master at sustaining musical interest by skilfully varied deployment of colour, rhythm and melody. The 14 arias – only one of them is a duet – encompass many contrasting affects and offer the listener a wide spectrum of melodic invention. Quite the loveliest of them is Daniel’s “Pargoletto in rozze fasce” (“Little child in rough swaddling clothes”). Happily, it is also sung with irresistible allure by Rossana Bertini, whose clear, strongly focused voice is the most appealing in a vocal line-up which is by and large impressive. The siciliano rhythm, some of the melodic contours, and the obbligato oboe all seem to foreshadow Dafne’s “Felicissima quest’alma” in Handel’s secular cantata Apollo e Dafne.
Choosing between the two versions is difficult but, in the end, my preference is for the newcomer. The performance is, perhaps, marginally more spontaneous and therefore more dramatically motivated. Each is prefaced by an instrumental work by Corelli, the present one containing the Christmas Concerto in G minor “per la Notte di Natale” from the composer’s Op. 6. Too late for the Christmas tree, alas, though Jeremiah’s contribution perhaps makes it a permissible adjunct to the Easter egg. Well worth hearing, though several pages of my booklet, containing Stampiglia’s text, were maddeningly blank.'
A Scarlatti Cantata per la Notte di Natale
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