Baldetti Giuseppe Simulando S'impara

This is the third in a series of "Discovery" discs dedicated to unknown or rare works by three famous Italian composers, Rossini, Verdi and now Puccini. Chailly had already recorded some Puccini rarities in the early 80's but this new issue contains quite a few works that never seem to have seen the light of day.

How this opera grows in the affections. And how it strengthens the larger, ever-deepening appreciation not merely of Donizetti's work but of operatic conventions as such. I mean that the frequently derided forms of opera (the set pieces, aria-and-cabaletta and so forth) can increasingly be a source of pleasure and of perceived power in the writing. Here, for instance, part of the exhilaration arises out of the composer's skill in suiting the conventions to his dramatic and musical purposes. Elizabeth's first aria, meditatively hopeful yet anxious, fits the lyric-cantabile form; then the arrival of Talbot and Cecil with their opposing influences provokes the intensified turbulence of irresolution that makes dramatic sense out of the cabaletta. It is so with the duets and ensembles: they look like conventional set-pieces, but established form and specific material have been so well fitted that, with the musical inspiration working strongly (as it is here), you have opera not in its naive stage awaiting development towards freedom from form but, on the contrary, opera at the confident height of a period in its history when it was entirely true to itself.

At the end of the 18th century, when Mozart went to Paris to develop, his biggest rival was Giuseppe Maria Cambini (1746-1825). The full extent of his musical charm can be seen through these elegant pieces in the album. Not only are symphonic concertos with oboe and bassoon as the main instruments very rare, but the music in the album are all recorded for the first time in the world, adding to the rarity and preciousness of the album.

Giuseppe Giordani was an important Italian composer best known for his operas, oratorios, and sacred music. Among his greatest successes was his 1787 oratorio La distruzione di Gerusalemme, believed to be the first sacred drama presented in a theater. It drew enthusiastic praise from the local press and positive commentary from such notables as Goethe, who was present at the Naples premiere. Giordani was born into a well-to-do family in Naples on December 19, 1751. He exhibited musical talent early on and enrolled at the Santa Maria di Loreto Conservatory in Naples, where he studied under Antonio Sacchini, Fedele Fenaroli, and Gennaro Manna. The loss of his father in 1770 – when Giuseppe was 18 – apparently did not derail his education, for he would secure an important post, that of secondary maestro di cappella at the Tesoro di San Gennaro, in Naples, in 1774.

Giuseppe Sammartini's expressive sonatas are still quite unknown, and indeed some of them are recorded here for the first time. Sammartini's compositions often sound unusual, revealing bizarre surprises and deep emotions.