Se il cantor trace (15´44˝)

 1 Recitativo. Se il cantor trace (1´40˝)
 2 Aria. Sí che sei ben fortunato (6´23˝)
 3 Recitativo. Deh, rammentati almeno (1´12˝)
 4 Aria. Se sapessi con la morte (6´30˝)

Per palesarti appieno (12´27˝)

 5 Recitativo. Per palesarti appieno (0´47˝)
 6 Aria. Chi al suo fedel non rende (4´47˝)
 7 Recitativo. E tu crudel mi temi (1´02˝)
 8 Aria. Allorché s'amano (5´51˝)

Euridice e Orfeo - cantata a due (15´22˝)

 9 Recitativo. Dalle tenebre orrende (1´51˝)
10 Duetto. Mia vita / Cor mio (5´40˝)
11 Recitativo. Vieni dell'alma mia (2´43˝)
12 Duetto. Fatal forza (5´08˝)

Clori, Clori, mia vita (16´24˝)

13 Recitativo. Clori, Clori, mia vita (0´59˝)
14 Aria. Se tu guardi (8´54˝)
15 Recitativo. Deh vieni, sí (0´46˝)
16 Aria. Vanne e trova nella morte (5´45˝)

Bell'Aurora (13´50˝)

17 Aria. Bell'Aurora (5´35˝)
18 Recitativo. Esci dal chiuso albergo (2´13˝)
19 Aria. L'amorosa tortorella (6´02˝)

Eva Lax -  mezzo-soprano 1-8, 13-16
Maria Zadori - soprano 9-12, 17-19
Noemi Kiss - s soprano 9-12

AFFETTI MUSICALI BUDAPEST
on period instruments:

János Bali, János Malina - recorder 6, 8
István Kertész -  violin 1-4, 14, 16-19
Erika Petőfi - violin 1-4, 14, 16
Csilla Vályi - violoncello 1-19
János Mezei - harpsichord 1-19

Janos Malina - artistic director

Johann Adolf Hasse never will make the top 10 list of Baroque composers, but anyone who enjoys Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi and who remains unfamiliar with this highly skilled melodist whose works show a keenly disciplined sense of structure and formal balance, would do well to take a close listen. In these so-called "Italian cantatas", Hasse, who like Handel was from northern Germany but spent time studying and composing in Italy, reveals the traits that made him a popular and envied opera composer. Even Mozart and Haydn spoke highly of his accomplishments, which also included oratorios, liturgical music for churches in Dresden and Venice, and a number of instrumental works. However, it's his vocal pieces, exemplified in the secular cantatas performed here, that really call our attention to music that deserves wider acceptance. Although Hasse's cantatas inevitably are compared to Alessandro Scarlatti's own (Scarlatti was one of Hasse's teachers and was more or less the "father" of the Italian cantata), a work such as Hasse's Euridice e Orfeo, for two sopranos and obbligato instruments, shows a masterful--and economical--treatment of the drama with some intricately interwoven and thoroughly engaging solo lines.

The singers--especially sopranos Mária Zádori and Noémi Kiss--display lovely, clear, warm-focused voices and are fully in command of the music and the style. They really seem to enjoy their duet--a sentiment shared by their instrumental partners. And speaking of instruments: the Affetti Musicali Budapest is a first rate ensemble that gets the benefit of Hungaroton's excellently balanced, vivid sonics. Éva Lax, who performs three of the solo cantatas, actually sounds more like a countertenor than a mezzo, and she has a facile technique that allows her to just spin out her lines as if born to this music. These five works, four of which strictly follow the accepted four-part form of recitative-aria-recitative-aria, are certainly not masterpieces, but they are worthy representatives of the output of another highly regarded 18th-century composer unfairly hidden in the long shadows of Georg Frederic and Johann Sebastian. ---David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

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1.Cantata, Quel vago seno, O Fille: Recitative 1	1:19 	
2.Cantata, Quel vago seno, O Fille: Aria 1		8:57 	
3.Cantata, Quel vago seno, O Fille: Recitative 2	1:51 	
4.Cantata, Quel vago seno, O Fille: Aria 2		7:38 	
5.Sonata in B minor, opus II no. VI, for flute and basso continuo: Andante	1:52 	
6.Sonata in B minor, opus II no. VI, for flute and basso continuo: Allegro	2:18 	
7.Sonata in B minor, opus II no. VI, for flute and basso continuo: Arioso	2:12 	
8.Sonata in B minor, opus II no. VI, for flute and basso continuo: Presto	2:49 	
9.Aria, Ah Dio, ritornate from La conversione di Sant'Agostino	7:45 	
10.Cantata, Fille dolce, mio bene: Recitative 1			0:51 	
11.Cantata, Fille dolce, mio bene: Aria 1		6:14 	
12.Cantata, Fille dolce, mio bene: Recitative 2		0:35 	
13.Cantata, Fille dolce, mio bene: Aria 2		6:03 	
14.Sonata in C minor, opus VII no. VI for harpsichord: Adagio		2:58 	
15.Sonata in C minor, opus VII no. VI for harpsichord: Allegro		4:01 	
16.Sonata in C minor, opus VII no. VI for harpsichord: Adagio		5:01 	
17.Sonata in C minor, opus VII no. VI for harpsichord: Allegro		2:43 	
18.Venetian Ballads: Grazie agli inganni tuoi	3:13 	
19.Venetian Ballads: No ste' a condanarme	1:51 	
20.Venetian Ballads: Cosa e' sta Cossa?		0:55 	
21.Venetian Ballads: Si', la gondola avere', no crie'	3:36 

Lulianne Baird - Soprano
Erin Headley - Bass Viola da gamba
Malcolm Proud - Harpsichord
Nancy Hadden - Flute 

Though chiefly celebrated now, as in his own day, as an opera composer, Hasse wrote a significant quantity of sacred pieces and much delightful chamber music for voices and instruments. This new disc offers a well-chosen and stylishly performed selection, almost entirely belonging to the last mentioned category. He was a younger contemporary and compatriot of Bach, Handel and Telemann, whose music by and large reflected the rococo taste for pleasing melodies with lightly textured and graceful accompaniments. Doctor Burney was fulsome in his tribute to Hasse, describing him as ''equally a friend to poetry and the voice''. The two cantatas, aria and ballads performed in this programme would seem to bear out Burney's opinion.

The cantatas provide the greatest substance here. They are expertly crafted pieces, each consisting of two pairs of alternating recitatives and arias. Hasse seems often to have gone in for unusually extended da capo arias; one of them—in the captivating Quel vago seno, o Fille—lasts for almost nine minutes, while two others are of almost equally impressive proportions. But, as I say, they are skilfully written and hold our attention with their engaging melodic contours and effective accompaniments.

Julianne Baird is one of the most stylish and thoughtful of our present interpreters of baroque and early classical music; and the conjunction of an agile technique with an alluring vocal timbre gives considerable strength to her performances. Sometimes in previous recordings I have found her intonation variable but not so here, where almost every detail falls lightly and unerringly into place.

I enjoyed the instrumental items, too. Malcolm Proud, who provides first-rate continuo realizations throughout, also gives us a favourable impression of Hasse's solo keyboard skill in a fine Sonata in C minor for harpsichord. The outstanding movement here is the third one, a deeply felt, darkly coloured Adagio which Proud plays with unhurried and affecting intensity. One of the record companies should sign up this fine player for repertoire of greater substance. The flautist Nancy Hadden gives a lively account of a B minor Sonata, while Erin Headley plays the composer's own alternative version for viola da gamba of an aria from Hasse's last cantata, La conversione di Sant' Agostino. Like Proud, both Hadden and Headley contribute excellent obbligatos and continuo, respectively, elsewhere in the programme.

In short, a delightful disc, well considered, well performed and intimately recorded. No disappointments here. I shall be listening to Si, la gondola avere (one of the Venetian ballads) every day until further notice.' ---Nicholas Anderson, gramophone.co.uk

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1 Come l'ape di fiore in fiore: Aria for Soprano, Two Violins and Basso Continuo  4:27 	

Il nome, Cantata for Contralto, Flute and Basso Continuo
2 Aria. Scrivo in te l'amato nome	7:39 	
3 Recitativo. O pianta avventurosa	1:14 	
4 Aria. Per te di lieto aprile	5:28 	

Sonata a tre in E Minor, Op. 3 No. 2 for Two Flutes and Basso Continuo
5 I. Allegro moderato	3:43 	
6 II. —		2:55 	
7 III. Allegro	2:10 	

Chieggio ai gigli ed alle rose, Cantata for Soprano and Basso Continuo
8 Aria. Chieggio ai gigli ed alle rose		4:12 	
9 Recitativo. Ahi, tormento spietato	1:38 	
10 Aria. O pietoso zeffiretto	4:10 

Sonata a tre in D Major, Op. 3 No. 3 for Two Flutes and Basso Continuo
11 I. Allegro moderato	2:51 	
12 II. Adagio	3:26 	
13 III. Allegro		2:26 	

È ver, mia fille, è vero, Cantata for Contralto, Two Violins, Viola and Basso Continuo
14 Recitativo. È ver, mia fille, è vero		1:16 	
15 Aria. Ne' sguardi miei languenti		5:21 	
16 Recitativo. Or ecco al fin disciolta		1:11 	
17 Aria. Sì, vezzosetti rai		4:57 	
-	
18 Muta è l'imago dell'idolo amato: Aria for Soprano, Two Violins and Basso Continuo	4:48 

Lia Serafini (soprano)
Gabriella Martellacci (contralto)

Accademia del Ricercare
Pietro Busca (director)

It has been said of Johann Adolf Hasse that few composers have been as famous in their time as Hasse, and yet as quickly forgotten. In Italy he had been called the ‘Padre della musica’, yet upon his death only one musical work was written in his honour by J.A Hiller, a friend of Hasse. So what happened to one of the most successful opera composers of the 18th century after Handel and Gluck, to bring about such a fall from favour? A composer who knew Frederick the Great and performed with the monarch? First, he simply became out of date after a very long career, and secondly, he lost his considerable wealth due to the collapse of the Venetian financial system in the early 1780s. He died in Venice aged 84, his funeral attended by his daughter and a few others. His gravestone wasn’t erected until 1820 – a sad story indeed.

In his pomp Hasse was the epitome of a modern composer. Traveling widely, especially to Italy, he spoke only Italian (he was German by birth), set only Italian texts, and married one of the stars of Italian opera. Although he spent 30 years as Kapellmeister in Dresden, and a decade at the Imperial Court in Vienna, he never severed his ties with Italy.

The music on this disc, the first volume of a Brilliant Classics edition of Hasse, dates from early in his career and just predates his meteoric rise to fame. His style straddles the late Baroque of Alessandro Scarlatti and the emerging Classical style of Gluck, the young Joseph Haydn and the Stamitz brothers.

His music and reputation deserve reassessment. It was after all Mozart who wrote that he hoped to ‘become immortal, like Handel and Hasse’. ---prestoclassical.co.uk

Johann Adolf Hasse, although German-born, spent the bulk of his career in Italy, studied with the renowned Alessandro Scarlatti, spoke only Italian and composed vocal music exclusively in his adopted language, or in the case of sacred music, Latin. Although relegated to the sidelines in modern times, he was greatly respected in his day. Mozart held him in the same lofty company as Handel, and aspired to be himself remembered in the same league as Hasse.

Much of the vocal music presented on this elegant program has never been recorded before, and we have the Accademia del Ricercare to thank for bringing such engaging music back to life. Two fine soloists, soprano Lia Serafini and contralto Gabriella Martellacci alternate to present rich performances of arias and cantatas meant to entertain and impress guests in small intimate gatherings in the home. How lovely it is to hear a female contralto sing these lovely melodies instead of having to endure yet another failed baritone in the guise of a counter-tenor. Note to conductors: unless you can get a Mark Crayton or a David Daniels, use girls!

Hasse favored flutes as accompanying instruments but in keeping with common Baroque practice, any handy melodic instrument could be substituted, and we get superb playing from some outstanding Italian instrumentalists in both the wind and string sections. Of particular merit are the two dreamily charming trio sonatas from Op, 3, which are delivered with both serene airiness and sprightly rhythmic vitality.

Both vocal soloists deliver superb performances. Ms. Serafini’s light and radiant soprano is beautifully contrasted by Ms. Martellacci’s warm yet ever-clear contralto. Both ladies sing with distinct enunciation making the texts easy to understand. Both use ornamentation with ease, employing just enough to make things interesting without it getting in the way of the composer’s lilting melodies.

Kudos go to Brilliant Classics for joining Naxos and Arte Nova in bringing forth fascinating recordings at such a budget price. Program notes are informative and of just enough length to avoid being too academic or tiresome. Texts are provided, but sadly are presented only in the original language. If Brilliant can afford to translate the program note into three languages, why not the texts? ---Kevin Sutton, musicweb-international.com

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1. Part I
Introduction - Recitative: Più non t'affliger (Simpliciano, Monica, Agostino, Alipio) 00:07:33
Aria: Piangero, ma figlio amato (Monica) 00:08:48
Recitative: Ah, che il mio cor giammar (Agostino, Simpliciamo, Alipio) 00:04:31
Aria: Sentro orro del tuo delitto (Alipio) 00:04:17
Recitative: Ah, tu padre ammutisci (Agostino, Simpliciano) 00:02:20
Aria: Non abbandona mai Iddio (Simpliciano) 00:06:46
Recitative: Si solo a te mio Dio volger mi (Agostino) 00:03:39
Aria: Il rimorso opprime il seno (Agostino) 00:05:59
Recitative: Caro germano (Navigio, Agostino, Monica) 00:02:28
Aria: Come Fra venti insani geme (Navigio) 00:05:15
Recitative: E nessun Io soccore (Monica, Alipio, Simpliciano) 00:01:33
Inspira o Dio elemente (Monica, Alipio, Chorus) 00:02:53

2. Part II
Recitative: Il figlio ancor non vedo, miscra! (Monica) 00:01:07
Aria: Ah, veder gia parmi il figlio (Monica) 00:05:02
Recitative: Simplician che rechi (Monica, Simpliciano, Alipio) 00:02:12
Aria: Piange e quel pianto (Alipio) 00:07:23
Recitative: Ecco che giunge a noi (Simpliciano, Agostino, Monica, Navigio) 00:08:01
Aria: Or mi pento, oh Dio (Agostino) 00:06:31
Recitative: Ah figlio (Simpliciano, Agostino, Monica, Alipio, Navigio) 00:05:19
Aria: A Dio ritornate (Simpliciano) 00:07:24
Si lodi il ciel pietoso (Chorus) 00:02:53

Mechthild Georg (Mezzo Soprano)
Axel Köhler (Countertenor)
Ralf Popken (Countertenor)
Robert Wörle (Tenor)
Gotthold Schwarz (Bass) 

Berlin RIAS Chamber Chorus
Academy for Ancient Music Berlin
Marcus Creed (Conductor)

La conversione di Sant' Agostino was first performed at Dresden's Taschenberg Palace on March 28th, 1750. It was Hasse's last oratorio and perhaps his most popular, enjoying numerous performances over the following 30 years or more. Surprisingly, it, rather than an opera, was chosen to open the theatre of the new palace of Sans-Souci in Potsdam in 1768. The Italian text, by the Dresden Electress Maria Antonia Walpurgis, is based on a Jesuit drama and deals with the conversion of St Augustine and his submission to God's will. There are five dramatis personae whose characters and preoccupations are quite subtly depicted by Hasse by means of extended passages of recitative, both unaccompanied and accompanied. The oratorio itself is conventionally laid out in two parts with alternating recitatives and arias, and a chorus which concludes the first and second parts, respectively.

Hasse's music is pleasing without being perhaps in any way remarkable or memorable. It is, however, effective and in the arias he shows us almost invariably how skilful he was in writing for the voice. Some of these, such as Simpliciano's aria in Part 1 (track 6), have lyrical melodies whose expressive lines are highlighted by the simple harmonic structure supporting them. The B-sections of da capo arias are usually well contrasted with their surrounding material and, as in his operas, the Italian influence is all-pervading.

This performance on two CDs is sympathetic while at the same time inclined to underplay the work's dramatic qualities. This has as much to do with the pacing as the singing which does convey a lively sense of theatre. There is, in fact, little in the way of action and the tension is generated more by inner conflict which Hasse portrays with musical painting of sensibility and restraint. The soloists make an evenly matched team. Mechthild Georg, as Augustine's mother, makes particular appeal but the remaining four singers are never less than adequate, usually rising well above that. The strings and oboes of the Berlin Ancient Music Academy are not quite as secure as we have come to expect from our best-known period instrument groups; but I found myself enjoying their lively playing once I had become accustomed to astringencies in tuning the occasional untidy ensemble. Marcus Creed sets effective tempos by and large and explores the wealth of the oratorio's expressive potential. The recording is ideally balanced and the booklet contains full texts in Italian, German and English. Well worth investigating.' ---Nicholas Anderson, gramophone.co.uk

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CD1

01. Sinfonia: Spiritoso e staccato - Allegro
02. Sinfonia: Spiritoso e staccato - Grazioso
03. Recitativo: Da quel salso elemento
04. Aria: Pur ch'io possa a te (Marc' Antonio)
05. Recitativo: Signor, la tua sciagura
06. Aria: Morte col fiero aspetto (Cleopatra)
07. Recitativo: Or che la mia fortuna
08. Aria: Fra le pompe peregrine (Marc' Antonio)
09. Recitativo: Si, mel rammento, o caro
10. Aria: Un sol tuo sospiro (Cleopatra)
11. Recitativo: Cosi rapido fugge e vola il tempo
12. Duetto: Attendi ad amarmi (Marc' Antonio, Cleopatra)

CD2

01. Recitativo: Signor, la tuna speranza
02. Aria: A Dio trono, impero a Dio (Cleopatra)
03. Recitativo: Ah, tolga il ciel mia cara
04. Aria: Come veder potrei (Marc' Antonio)
05. Recitativo: Lascia, Antonio, deh lascia
06. Aria: Quel candido armellino (Cleopatra)
07. Recitativo: L'eroico tuo coraggio
08. Aria: La tra i mirti degl'Elisi (Marc' Antonio)
09. Recitativo: Poiche la morte sola
10. Duetto: Bella etade avventurosa (Marc' Antonio, Cleopatra)

Cleopatra - Ava Pine
Marc'Antonio - Jamie Barton
Ars Lyrica Houston
Conductor - Matthew Dirst

Like Handel had done some years earlier, Johann Adolf Hasse left his native Germany in 1721 to gain some Italian polish, He eventually settled in Naples and studied with Porpora and Alessandro Scarlatti. In 1730 he moved to Dresden where he became Kapellmeister, married one of Handel's divas and the two became the power couple of late baroque opera.

During his Italian period Hasse produced seven operas, eight intermezzi and the serenatas. His serenata Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra was written for a Neapolitan banker in whose palace it was first performed in 1725. As a genre the serenata lay somewhere between the solo cantata and a full-length opera. Typically baroque serenatas set a familiar love story and form a sequence of short operatic scenes. Here the libretto is by poet and impresario Francesco Ricciardi. It starts with Marc'Antonio's defeat by Octavian, the two declare their love and rather than submit to Rome, agree on suicide.

But there is an element in the original casting which sheds a fascinating light on the difference between baroque attitudes and ours. The original singers were the castrato Farinelli and the contralto Victoria Tesi, but contrary to what we might expect Farinelli sang Cleopatra and Tesi sang Marc'Antonio. Such cross-casting was then common in Italy, as it helped emphasise the artificiality of the operatic genre. But castrati did not sing travesty roles in England, so we are less familiar with the idea.

On this recording from Ars Lyrica Houston, the two roles are sung by women with Jamie Barton as Marc'Antonio and Ava Pine as Cleopatra.

The serenata opens with a sinfonia with each half being formed from four arias and a duet. Each singer is allocated the same number of arias, preserving perfect balance. But in another respect there is a difference. The role of Marc'Antonio (originally sung by Tesi) has a sequence of lyric, galant arias but Cleopatra (sung by Farinelli) is given a sequence of wonderfully brilliant arias. It is Cleopatra which is the show-piece role. Hasse became renowned for delivering virtuoso arias which showed off and flattered the original singers’ voices.

Pine has quite a rich voice, she is no slim-voiced canary, but displays a lively sense of baroque style and is quite fearless in her way with Hasse's virtuosic vocal lines. She makes a strong, commanding queen. Barton has a Marilyn Horne-like voice and a nice way with the lyrical lines which Hasse has written for Marc'Antonio. Though there are moments when she sounds a little too careful, she is suitably love-lorn.

The piece is quite short, lasting a fraction under 90 minutes. But I did wonder whether the piece might have been fitted onto a single CD. Conductor Matthew Dirst takes the recitatives at an amazingly sedate pace, they are sedate and deliberate rather than dramatic; you certainly wouldn't want to hear an entire opera performed this way.

The serenata became quite famous in Hasse's lifetime, but this seems to be its first complete recording, so we must be thankful to Ars Lyrica Houston. It is an attractive and well made piece, but it does not mine the real depths of the characters’ emotions the way Handel could. Handel's Italian period produced such striking gems as his cantata Lucrezia which explores Lucrezia's emotional turmoil in depth; whereas Hasse seems to have been mainly concerned to show off his singers in the best light and perhaps flatter the audience.

Hasse's original accompaniment was for strings and continuo but Ars Lyrica have added some woodwind (oboes, recorders, flute and bassoon) to produce a rather effective piece. That said, you do wonder whether Hasse's original slimmer version might have been tighter and more dramatically incisive.

Under Matthew Dirst's capable direction Ars Lyrica and their soloists give a lively performance of a charming work. It brought fame to Hasse and is well worth encountering in this engaging performance. ---Robert Hugill, musicweb-international.com

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1.Introduzione
2.Rezitativ Eliab und Eleazar
3.Arie Eliab
4.Rezitativ Moyses
5.Arie Moyses
6.Rezitativ Josue
7.Arie Josue
8.Rezitativ Angelus und Moyses
9.Arie Angelus
10.Rezitativ Nathanael
11.Arie Nathanael
12.Rezitativ Eliab, Eleazar und Moyses
13.Arie: Eleazar
14.Rezitativ Angelus und Moyses
15.Arie Angelus
16.Rezitativ Josue und Eleazar
17.Duett Josue und Eleazar
18.Rezitativ Moyses
19.Arie Moyses
20.Epilogus

Valérie Gabail - Angelus (soprano)
Isabelle Poulenard - Josue (soprano)
Stéphanie d'Oustrac – Eliab et Nathanael (mezzosoprano)
Annette Markert - Moyses (contralto)
Robert Expert - Eleazar (countertenor)

Ensemble Les Paladins
Jérôme Correas – director

One of the most performed composers of the eighteenth century. Hasse bridges the gap between the baroque and the classical. His oratorio Les Seprents de feu dans le désert is a perfect example of this. ---ambronay.org

First of all, this not too long oratorio by Johann Adolf Hasse (78 minutes) was done for women singing and in Latin language. Because of that, there are only high voices,included that of a countertenor,that fit nicely with all the women. This oratorio is a showpiece for the voice, all the singers (the countertenor Robert Expert, Michelle Poulenard,Annette Markert,Valerie Gabail and Stephanie D'Oustrac) are outstanding, but I loved most the arias sung by Stephanie D'Oustrac, because they were the "dramatic" ones, in my opinion. This work is strange in the way that if you hope find melodies that reflect strong and emotive feelings,like the title sugests(Serpents of fire in the desert), there are only the mentioned above, in two diferent roles by the singer(Eliab and Nathanael)and in the recitatives.But the rest is of a lyrical beauty that betrays its name. That means if you expect something "fiery" you will not find it,but you will find some of the loveliest melodies and singing in an oratorio in the baroque,apart of their difficulty, vocal ornamentation and length,being the arias of the "da capo" kind,(e.g., once finished,it begins again with the first verse). The orchestra plays in period instruments splendidly,that is 1736-39,with no exact date of composition. It is a very good way to know another "german" composer that could compose in the best "italian" style, giving us proof that not only Handel learned that craft at the highest level. It is a pity we can hear only a small output of this legendary composer,a worthy contemporary of Handel. The CD comes with libretto in latin with french and english translations, so you will know the biblical history that gives the name to this masterpiece. ---DaDomingo Warner, amazon.com

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Disc 1 

1.Sinfonia
2.No principessa - Che a te non pensi - Parte così (1. Akt)
3.Dirò che fida sei - Didone, il re de' Mori
4.Son regina e sono amante - Araspe, alla vendetta
5.Tu mi scorgi al gran disegno - Già tel dissi, o Selene - Stranier, dimmi; chi sei?
6.Quando saprai chi sono sì fiero non sarai - Non partirà se pria - Non è più tempo - Ecco il rival - Siam traditi
7.Tu mi disarmi il fianco - Enea, salvo già sei dalla crudel ferita
8.Non ha ragione, ingrato, un core abbandonato da chi giuro gli fé?
9.A le mie amorose folie - Se resto sul lido

Disc 2 

1.Indegno, t'offerisci al mio sdegno e non paventi! - Chi sciolse (2. Akt)
2.Leon, ch'errando vada - Ah contro Enea v'è qualche frode ordita
3.Ogni amator suppone - Tu dici ch'io non speri
4.L'augeletto in lacci stretto perché mai cantar si ascolta? - Già so che si nasconde - Come! Ancor non partisti?
5.Ah! Non lasciarmi, no

Disc 3 

1.Fra il dovere e l'affetto - Risparmia al tuo gran core
2.Vedi nel mio perdono, perfido traditor - Tanto ardir nella reggia?
3.Tacerò, se tu lo brami - Ah generoso Enea
4.Veggio la sponda, sospiro il lido - Ad ascoltar di nuovo i rimpoveri tuoi vengo - Didone, a che mi chiedi? - Senti
5.Chiamami pur così - E pure in mezzo all'ire
6.Va lusingando amore il credulo mio core
7.Già da Iarba in difesa - Non son contento (3. Akt)
8.Quando l'onda che nasce dal monte - Addio Selene
9.A trionfar mi chiama un bel desio d'onore - O dio, germana! - Araspe in queste soglie!
10.Già si desta la tempesta - Fuggi, o regina
11.Ombra cara, ombra tradita - Fermati
12.Cadrà fra poco in cenere il suo nascente impero - Numi, onde l'ira in sen tutta mi piomba - A che dissi, infelice!

Didone (Dido) - Theresa Holzhauser, Mezzo-soprano
Enea (Aeneas) - Flavio Ferri-Benedetti, Countertenor
Iarba (Iarbas) - Valer Barna-Sabadus, Countertenor
Selene - Magdalena, Soprano
Araspe - Maria Celeng, Soprano
Osmida - Andreas Burkhart, Baritone
Hofkapelle München
Michael Hofstetter - conductor

If one considers the almost endless list of settings of the first opera seria libretto by Pietro Metastasio, Didone abbandonata, one is amazed at the shadowy existence which it has today in comparison with Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell and Nahum Tate written 35 years earlier. Only Niccolo Jommelli’s setting exists in a complete recording and only the scores by Giuseppe Sarti and Leonardo Vinci were ever published. Written in 1724 for the Teatro di San Bartolomeo in Naples, Metastasio’s adaptation was the most popular libretto on the Dido theme in the eighteenth century, a tradition which was continued into the nineteenth century by Saverio Mercadante.

Johann Adolph Hasse wrote his version of Didone abbandonata in 1742 to celebrate the birthday of August III, the Elector of Saxony, and also King of Poland, to whom Hasse had been appointed Kapellmeister in 1731. The first interpreter of the title role was Hasse’s wife Faustina Bordoni, who was a prima donna at the Dresden Opera. Although it was the custom for operatic performances to be given on the occasion of the monarch’s birthdays or name-days, this dramma per musica was performed to the inner circle of the court society in the hunting lodge at Hubertusberg. The Hubertusberg version of 1742 and the version which was performed the following year during the Dresden Carnival differ from each other, however, in their respective final scenes. From annotations in a copy of the score held in the archives of the Saxon State Library it can be deduced that this was because of the technical limitations of the tiny theatre in the hunting lodge. The closing scene of the Dresden version portrays Dido’s death among the flames of Carthage, as in the original Virgil, whereas at the same point in the action at the premiere it was General Osmida who informed the audience of the tragic outcome.

Since by this time the royal sovereign was no longer identified with gods or heroes, as had been the case in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, it became the practice for important court performances to add, at the end of the last act, a special occasion licenza (licence). This achieved the main purpose of honouring August III and at the same was in keeping with the festive nature of the performance.

Although the convention of the lieto fine, the happy ending, gradually prevailed in opera seria plots in the first half of the eighteenth century—and also in libretti which referred back to classical tragedies—in a few works Metastasio experimented with the dramatic impact of the tragico fine, the tragic ending. We find this not only in Didone abbandonata, but also in an earlier work, Catone in Utica, whose main character commits suicide in the final scene. But whereas Metastasio soon revised the libretto of this opera he left untouched the ending of his libretto about the Carthaginian queen.

Metastasio begins the action when Aeneas’s decision has already been made; in the first scene of the piece he admits to his plan to leave Carthage for Italy. In spite of expressing his doubts he is resolute—and that is the conflict inherent in the work. The inner story-line is driven not by the tension between duty and love, but rather by Dido’s anticipation of the personal catastrophe which will befall her, expressed in her desperate efforts to prevent Aeneas’s departure. Her fear of abandonment, which is exacerbated on the one hand by Iarba‘s political intimidation and on the other by her being thrust back into widowhood, adds to her hysteria. So the question is also raised whether it is Dido’s real wish to continue her relationship with Aeneas or whether she will panic at her state of abandonment.

After the conflict is exposed—without even an atmosphere-producing introduction—time is excessively drawn out in what follows. In the context of a dramatic dialogue that presents argument rather than emotion, Dido exerts her power as queen less frequently, and instead concentrates all her efforts in trying to prevent Aeneas’s departure. In her ‘triumph’ aria “Son regina e sono amante” in Act I she defends her political and emotional self-determination to Iarba. Her very being as both queen and lover has, however, become a balancing act, in which she visibly loses control of her emotional equilibrium. So Metastasio and Hasse let their heroine offer Aeneas a purely formal counter-argument; although at the beginning of the first act he is still riven by doubt he offers an almost stammered accompanied recitative, then composes himself and in the third act takes his leave with a heroic bravura aria (“A trionfar mi chiama”), devoid of any scruples.

For her part, Dido, in the final scene, takes her leave of the world in an accompanied recitative which, in its metre and linguistic style, clearly recalls Aeneas’s aria “Dovrei…ma no…”. In the first recitative section of this, the only closing monologue in the whole of Metastasio’s oeuvre, Hasse’s setting divides the eleven-syllable verse into musical phrases of seven and five syllables. These versi spezzati (broken verses) reveal Dido’s deep insecurity, and the consonant-rich language highlights her bitterness and criminatory mindset. The short cavatina “Vado…ma dove…”, derived from the declaimed accompanied recitative, emphasises through the contrasting elliptical verse structure and the sung element, Dido’s existential helplessness, bereft of voice and face to face with the expression of her all-embracing desolation. The following recitative passage maintains a tono grave assonance—serenity and a re-discovered majesty are mirrored in this tragic style.

Amid the raging inferno of Carthage Dido has discharged completely her responsibility as queen to her people. Instead of a sense of an indebted demise there is the stylisation of herself as a tragic figure. So Dido chooses a death of a myth-like character. After Aeneas’s curse she at least reverts to the imposing qualities of her identity as a queen and stage-manages her suicide for the benefit of posterity, without an audience in the here and now.--- Isabelle Kranabetter, naxos.com

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1. Act I
2. Act II
3. Act III

Marina de Liso (Romolo)
Eleonora Buratto (Ersilia)
Robin Johannsen (Valeria)
Netta Or (Ostilio)
Johannes Chum (Curzio)
Paola Gardina (Acronte)

Café Zimmermann (orchestra)
NovoCanto (choir)
Attilio Cremonesi - conductor

Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik
Tiroler Landestheater
Friday 26 August 2011

Radio broadcast ORF Ö1 Saturday 27 August 2011

Johann Adolf Hasse's 'Romolo ed Ersilia' is an opera in 3 acts composed to a libretto by the Italian poet Metastasio first produced in Innsbruck in 1765. The drama was one of Metastasio's last, shortest, and least popular. --- worldconcerthall.com

Johann Adolph Hasse became the most famous German opera composer of his time. In Italy, he was celebrated as “Il divino Sassone”, while he established Dresden as a splendid European centre of opera. Haydn modelled himself on him, Mozart described him as “immortal”, and he was Empress Maria Theresia’s favourite composer. She commissioned him to compose a festive opera for Innsbruck on the occasion of Archduke Leopold’s marriage with the Spanish Princess Maria Ludovica. The glamorous first performance of Hasse’s 59th work for the opera stage, “Romolo ed Ersilia”, took place in the then baroque opera house on Rennweg in 1765. 246 years later, it will be staged again in the same venue. On this opera as well as on many others, Hasse collaborated with Pietro Metastasio, poet to the Viennese court and the most important opera librettist of the 18th century. The bridal couple was presented with an exciting wedding opera in Innsbruck. Metastasio took up the theme of the Roman legend surrounding the abduction of the Sabine women. Ersilia is the bride of the founder of Rome and the daughter of his enemy, Curzio, who wants to prevent the marriage. --- altemusik.at

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1. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Prima: Sinfonia	3:15
2. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Prima: Recitativo: Di Solima distrutta lo squallore (Eugenio)	1:02
3. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Prima: Aria: Del cammin più lo stento non sento (Eugenio)	4:27		     play
4. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Prima: Recitativo: Grazie a quel Dio che della nostra carco (Teotimo)	1:09
5. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Prima: Aria: Senti 'l mar l'Onnipotente	5:35
6. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Prima: Recitativo: A chi di cuor l'invoca (Albino, Teotimo, Agapito, Eugenio, Guida)	2:51
7. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Prima: Aria: Non così cervo assetato (Agapito)	6:48
8. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Prima: Recitativo: Quanto scorgete intorno, alme fedeli (Guida)	1:23
9. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Prima: Lauda: Le porte a noi dissera (Albino, Teotimo, Agapito, Eugenio, Guida)	4:03
10. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Seconda: Recitativo: Il Getsemani è questo (Guida, Eugenio)	1:47	
11. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Seconda: Aria: Era amor quei che dal fronte (Eugenio)	5:38
12. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Seconda: Recitativo: Costi di tosco infetto (Guida, Agapito, Albino, Teotimo, Eugenio)	2:52
13. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Seconda: Aria: D'aspri legato (Guida)	7:29	
14. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Seconda: Recitativo: Barbari, oimé! fermate, e in me volgete (Teotimo, Guida, Agapito)	7:02	
15. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Seconda: Aria: Viva fonte sia la fronte (Agapito)	6:38
16. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Seconda: Recitativo: Dall'horror de' miei falli, e dal castigo (Teotimo, Eugenio, Albino, Guida)	3:49
17. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Seconda: Aria: Scaccia l'orror, le tenebre (Teotimo)	4:44	
18. I Pellegrini al Sepolcro di Nostro Signore, Parte Seconda: Coro: Pellegrino è l'uomo in terra	4:41		                 play

Rachel Elliott, soprano
Valérie Gabail, soprano
Gérard Lesne, alto
Michael Chance, alto
Peter Harvey, basse

Il Seminario Musicale
Gérard Lesne - conductor, 1998

... the 18th C, of course! The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, when most of the driving social and political thoughts of modern times were first stated - natural rights, liberty, equality, privacy! When the shackles of aristocracy, theocracy, and the divine right of kings were loosened! When scientific secular humanism began to blow away the smoke and stench of superstition and to declare knowledge a boon rather than a sin! When it was first hinted that squalor and misery were not ordained for the mass of humanity but rather might be mitigated by human effort! The Age of the Democratic Revolution, as Palmer called it, the time of the greatest events in European history, the American and French Revolutions, the birth of modern society. The century that saw brute muscle supplanted by machine power, alchemy transformed into chemistry, feudal authority replaced by the rule of law! The century that began the fearsome tasks of ending slavery and serfdom, and of extending human dignity to women! The greatest century of human progress...

...was also the greatest century of musical genius: Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Telemann, Bach and Bach's sons, Rameau, Handel, Gluck, Haydn, Boccherini, Mozart, and... Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783), probably the most successful and widely-known composer of his era, writer of 60 operas and scores of other works, an international superstar at home in Naples, Venice, Vienna, Dresden, and Warsaw. The rediscovery of Hasse has been slow and fitful, given the massive competition for audience attention, but it is growing; if one could buy stocks in composers, I'd say that Hasse might be the hottest start-up on the market.

The oratorio recorded here, "Pilgrims at the Sepulcher of Our Lord," was first performed in Dresden in 1742. The libretto was the last work of Stefano Pallavicini, who died a few days after the premier. Pallavicini was as acclaimed in his lifetime as Hasse, and this libretto was instantly declared his masterpiece. The characters are four pilgrims and a hermit guide, who visit the sacred sites of Jerusalem and meditate in recitativos and arias about their spiritual impact. Judging by the number of surviving editions and manuscripts, this oratorio was among the most frequently performed compositions of the century.

Scored for strings, flutes, oboes and bassoons, with five soloists who also act as chorus, this is a show-piece of galant vocal ornamentation and elegant orchestration, a work which openly equates beauty with sprituality. The influence of Alessandro Scarlatti, Hasse's teacher, is still obvious, but Hass transcends his master in structural variety and dramatic timing. The "lauda" at the end of the first act - a simulation of a a joyful procession into the Holy City - is a brilliant innovation in the oratorio format, with a lacy polyphony of the utmost Germanic compositional rigor yet with Mediterranean simplicity and charm.

This performance by Il Seminario Musicale could not be better. The four pilgrims, sung by two women sopranos and two male altos, are rapturously eloquent in their testimonies of musical devotion. The hermit guide, sung by bass Peter Harvey, delivers his sermon-arias with serenity rather than gloom, and with consummate vocal agility for a bass. Director Gerard Lesne himself sings the role of Teotimo, one of the pilgrims; his aria at the end of the second act (Scaccia l'orrore, le tenebre il lume tuo dal cielo) depicts the light streaming from Heaven, inviting "us" to partake of life, and believe me, that's what it sounds like! --- Giordano Bruno, amazon.com

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1. Sonata for flute, viola da gamba & fortepiano No. 1 in G major, Op. 5: Andante 
2. Sonata for flute, viola da gamba & fortepiano No. 1 in G major, Op. 5: Allegro ma non presto 
3. Sonata for flute, viola da gamba & fortepiano No. 1 in G major, Op. 5: Andante 
4. Sonata for flute, viola da gamba & fortepiano No. 1 in G major, Op. 5: Allegro 
5. Sonata for viola da gamba, gallichon & harpsichord No. 4 in D major, Op. 5: Largo 
6. Sonata for viola da gamba, gallichon & harpsichord No. 4 in D major, Op. 5: Allegro 
7. Sonata for viola da gamba, gallichon & harpsichord No. 4 in D major, Op. 5: Adagio 
8. Sonata for viola da gamba, gallichon & harpsichord No. 4 in D major, Op. 5: Allegro 
9. Trio Sonata in G major, Op.2/4: Larghetto 
10. Trio Sonata in G major, Op.2/4: Allegro 
11. Trio Sonata in G major, Op.2/4: Larghetto 
12. Trio Sonata in G major, Op.2/4: Tempo di Minuetto 	
13. Sonata (Solo) for flute/violin & continuo/cello No. 5 in E minor, Op. 5/5: Adagio 		play
14. Sonata (Solo) for flute/violin & continuo/cello No. 5 in E minor, Op. 5/5: Vivace 
15. Sonata (Solo) for flute/violin & continuo/cello No. 5 in E minor, Op. 5/5: Andante 
16. Sonata (Solo) for flute/violin & continuo/cello No. 5 in E minor, Op. 5/5: Allegro assai 
17. Sonata for viola da gamba & harpsichord No. 3 in G major, Op. 5: Allegro 	
18. Sonata for viola da gamba & harpsichord No. 3 in G major, Op. 5: Adagio cantabile 
19. Sonata for viola da gamba & harpsichord No. 3 in G major, Op. 5: Allegro 	
20. Sonata for flute & gallichon No. 2 in A major, Op. 5: Allegro 	
21. Sonata for flute & gallichon No. 2 in A major, Op. 5: Andante 	
22. Sonata for flute & gallichon No. 2 in A major, Op. 5: Allegro 				play
23. Sonata for flute, viola da gamba & fortepiano No. 6 in D major, Op. 1: Adagio 
24. Sonata for flute, viola da gamba & fortepiano No. 6 in D major, Op. 1: Allegro 
25. Sonata for flute, viola da gamba & fortepiano No. 6 in D major, Op. 1: Adagio 
26. Sonata for flute, viola da gamba & fortepiano No. 6 in D major, Op. 1: Allegro 
27. Pastorelle Che Piangete, cantata: L'amerò, sarò costante

Umbach & Consorten:
Elke Martha Umbach, flute
Daniel Rothert, flute
Christian Zinke, viola da gamba
Axel Weidenfeld, gallichon, theorbo
Klaus Westermann, harpsichord, fortepiano

Johann Adolf Hasse (b Bergedorf, bap. 25 March 1699; d Venice, 16 Dec 1783). German composer. From a family of musicians, he began his career as a tenor in Hamburg; he then studied in Italy, under A. Scarlatti and others, and wrote several works for performance in Naples, where he held a position. With his wife, the soprano Faustina Bordoni, he went to Dresden in 1731 as Kapellmeister to the Saxon court. His reputation, however, was such that he was in demand in Italy (especially Venice, where he worked particularly for the Incurabili hospital) and Vienna as well as in Dresden. Besides his operas, he composed oratorios and large quantities of church music, chiefly for the Dresden court; he also wrote concertos and chamber works.

It was as an opera composer, however, that Hasse was above all esteemed. He wrote c70 stage works, mostly serious operas to texts by Metastasio, many of which were widely given, not only in Dresden but in Naples, in Venice during his later years at the important Viennese court, and wherever Italian opera was admired. Metastasio himself favoured Hasse above all others who set his librettos, for his polished style, his feeling for the words and his sensitivity to the human voice. Burney called him ‘the most natural, elegant, and judicious composer of vocal music, as well as the most voluminous’. In his last years, when he preferred to compose church music, he came to be regarded as old-fashioned.

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