Stradella Cantatas
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Alessandro Stradella
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Magazine Review Date: 4/1999
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 69
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: HMU90 7192
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Fuor della Stigia Sponda |
Alessandro Stradella, Composer
Alessandro Stradella, Composer Barbara Weiss, Organ Christine Brandes, Soprano Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Sinfonia No. 22 |
Alessandro Stradella, Composer
Alessandro Stradella, Composer Barbara Weiss, Harpsichord Ingrid Matthews, Baroque violin Mary Springfels, Viola da gamba |
| Non Avea il Sole Ancora |
Alessandro Stradella, Composer
Alessandro Stradella, Composer Barbara Weiss, Harpsichord Christine Brandes, Soprano Mary Springfels, Viola da gamba |
| Frena O Filli il Fiero Orgoglio |
Alessandro Stradella, Composer
Alessandro Stradella, Composer Barbara Weiss, Harpsichord Christine Brandes, Soprano Mary Springfels, Viola da gamba |
| Si Salvi chi può |
Alessandro Stradella, Composer
Alessandro Stradella, Composer Barbara Weiss, Harpsichord Christine Brandes, Soprano Mary Springfels, Viola da gamba |
| Sinfonia No. 12 |
Alessandro Stradella, Composer
Alessandro Stradella, Composer Barbara Weiss, Organ Ingrid Matthews, Baroque violin Mary Springfels, Viola da gamba Paul O'Dette, Lute |
| Ferma il Corso e Torna al Lido |
Alessandro Stradella, Composer
Alessandro Stradella, Composer Barbara Weiss, Harpsichord Christine Brandes, Soprano Mary Springfels, Viola da gamba |
Composer or Director: Alessandro Stradella
Label: Arcana
Magazine Review Date: 4/1999
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 67
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: A79
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Sonata di viole |
Alessandro Stradella, Composer
Alessandro Stradella, Composer Enrico Gatti, Conductor Orchestra Barocca della Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano |
| Si apra al riso ogni labro |
Alessandro Stradella, Composer
Alessandro Stradella, Composer Carlo Lepore, Bass Enrico Gatti, Conductor Lavinia Bertotti, Soprano Orchestra Barocca della Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano Roberto Balconi, Alto |
| Ah! troppo è ver |
Alessandro Stradella, Composer
Alessandro Stradella, Composer Barbara Zanichelli, Soprano Carlo Lepore, Bass Emanuela Galli, Soprano Enrico Gatti, Conductor Lavinia Bertotti, Soprano Maurizio Sciuto, Tenor Orchestra Barocca della Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano Roberto Balconi, Alto |
Author: Nicholas Anderson
The music of Alessandro Stradella makes infrequent appearances on disc, and performances have tended to be uneven. All the more welcome, therefore, are two releases representing different aspects of his work. The Arcana issue features two Christmas cantatas, Si apra al riso for three mixed solo voices, two violins and continuo, and the larger Ah! troppo e ver for mixed solo voices (SSSATB), with a concertino of violin, cello and continuo, and ripieno strings supplying the concerto grosso. The disc also contains a Sonata consisting of concertino and ripieno elements, a concerto grosso, in fact, of which form Stradella was a pioneer. The other disc contains five chamber cantatas for solo voice – here, a soprano – and continuo, whose sequence is interrupted by two interesting and lively instrumental Sinfonias. The movements of the first are strikingly varied, while the second is a set of variations on a moderately extended ‘ground’.
Both of the Christmas cantatas have been previously recorded on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (nla), but neither of them as effectively as they are presented here. Enrico Gatti and his almost all-Italian ensemble of singers and instrumentalists enliven this music in a way that eluded the rival version, notwithstanding its starrier line-up of vocalists and marginally tidier ensemble. Gatti’s imagination responds unfailingly to Stradella’s often individual, at times, quirky style, and his feeling for texture and declamation easily outdistances that of the competing version. These and other qualities may be sensed at once in the splendid, larger-than-life account ofAh! troppo e ver. Some readers may find, as I do, the acoustic a shade over-reverberant but the ear quickly grows accustomed. The performances certainly have rough patches, vocally and instrumentally, but they convey with fervour the spirit and occasional atmosphere of the music.
The chamber cantatas disc is technically accomplished, maintaining a level of finesse and attention to detail not always present in the other. Christine Brandes has a lightly coloured, ingenuous voice, just a little pinched in her uppermost register and strained to its limits in the ferociously demanding cantataFerma, ferma il corso. Her diction is clear and her inflexions pay close attention to the meaning and mood of the texts. As in the Christmas cantatas, so too in these more intimate pieces Stradella often surprises us with melodies that strike off in unexpected directions, sometimes requiring virtuosity from the singer and a fine sensibility from the continuo support. Both are present in these performances of pieces few, if any, of which have been previously recorded. Less immediately engaging than the many comparable pieces by Alessandro Scarlatti, Stradella’s cantatas will handsomely reward ears that savour expressive subtlety.'
Both of the Christmas cantatas have been previously recorded on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (nla), but neither of them as effectively as they are presented here. Enrico Gatti and his almost all-Italian ensemble of singers and instrumentalists enliven this music in a way that eluded the rival version, notwithstanding its starrier line-up of vocalists and marginally tidier ensemble. Gatti’s imagination responds unfailingly to Stradella’s often individual, at times, quirky style, and his feeling for texture and declamation easily outdistances that of the competing version. These and other qualities may be sensed at once in the splendid, larger-than-life account of
The chamber cantatas disc is technically accomplished, maintaining a level of finesse and attention to detail not always present in the other. Christine Brandes has a lightly coloured, ingenuous voice, just a little pinched in her uppermost register and strained to its limits in the ferociously demanding cantata
Stradella Cantatas
Stradella Cantatas
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