Alessandra Franco

The complete organ Masses of the Grand master of French Baroque, Francois Couperin. Couperin was a keyboard virtuoso, both on the harpsichord and organ; he wrote these Masses as principal organist of the St. Gervais Church in Paris. The ornamental French style of Couperin is blended with Italian influences with the emphasis on fluent melodic lines and daring chromaticisms in harmony. New recording, by international prize winning organist Adriano Falcioni (who already recorded the organ works of Cesar Franck, BC 94349) and the female vocal group Armoniosoincanto.

Based on an epic poem by Niccolò Forteguerri and set in the times of the Crusades, Ricciardo e Zoraide is a drama full of infatuations and jealousy, imprisonment and murderous plots, concluding with a gallant rescue and a benevolent outcome. The problems of such a complex and intense libretto were solved by Rossini through sheer dramatic skill, sophisticated melodic inventiveness, an emphasis on contrasts between dark and light, and the innovative and extensive use of on-stage musicians. This rarely heard opera is a true bel canto feast that reinvents the long tradition of chivalrous tales that still fascinate us today.