Fasolis La Senna Festeggiante

Recorded in 2002, this release contains a unique program of the complete overtures of all Vivaldi’s operas. As an opera composer, Vivaldi has long been neglected, but these works showcase his great dramatic genius. Performances on period instruments by Modo Antiquo, conducted by Federico Maria Sardelli, one of the foremost specialists in this field, who has also recorded for full price labels such as Naïve and Deutsche Grammophon.

As with the majority of Handel’s stage works, Rodelinda is composed in a purely Italian style. The libretto was adapted by Nicola Haym from a previous version by Antonio Salvi. In line with the norms for Italian opera, it consists of solo da capo arias interspersed with secco recitatives and, occasionally, with accompanied ones. The undoubted protagonist of the opera is Rodelinda, for whom the composer wrote eight of the original score’s thirty-two numbers, as well as the duet with Bertarido. Rodelinda’s characterisation is a masterpiece of psychological and musical insight, beginning with the entrance aria, Ho perduto il caro sposo.

Diego Fasolis and his ensemble ''I Barocchisti'' have been acclaimed from the press many times as one of the best ensemble for ancient music. Statements like ''Simply a terrific recording'' (American Record Guide for ARTS 47573-2 Bach – Motetes) and ''These two recordings (ARTS 47694-2 Bach Psalm 51 and ARTS 47695-2 Bach Cantatas) confirm the places of Diego Fasolis and the ensemble I Barocchisti among those musicians who really count.'' (Le Monde de la Musique) encouraged us to promptly release another recording from this ensemble.

Antonio Vivaldi's four concertos known as «The Seasons» from his collection Opus 8 are probably the most frequently performed, recorded as well as maltreated works from the Baroque period. A number of other composers employed Vivaldi's four masterpieces in their own compositions already during the composer’s lifetime. «Le Printemps ou les saisons amusantes» are arrangements for popular instruments at the time such as the hurdy-gurdy or bagpipes.In 1766 Michel Corrette composed the psalm Laudate Dominum de coelis by adding additional voices to the music of Spring and in 1775 Jean-Jacques Rousseau even published Spring in a transcription for flute solo!

“This magnificent production is a complete and blissful success. Don’t miss it.” Those were the words of the French website Classique News when Leonardo Vinci’s rediscovered Artaserse was staged by Silviu Purcãrete at the Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy. Complementing the CD version of the opera released in Autumn 2012, this DVD features no fewer than five of the world’s leading countertenors – assuming both male and female roles: Philippe Jaroussky, Max Emanuel Cencic, Franco Fagioli, Valer Barna-Sabadus and Yuriy Mynenko.

Among the current sensations of the historical-performance scene is I Barocchisti, from Italian Switzerland, and its director and harpsichordist Diego Fasolis. The group released performances of Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos on a pair of discs, with the second disc also containing the Concerto for flute, violin, harpsichord, strings, and continuo in A minor, BWV 1044. Whatever may be said for breaking up the set in other situations, this radical approach is best appreciated as a whole. Part of the charm of these classic works is their differentiation, somewhat obscured in modern performances (and even in some on historical instruments) that use a large string section.

'Jonas' and 'Dives Malus' are particularly showy examples of the "sacred oratorios" with Latin texts chiefly taken from the Bible, which were extremely popular among the Italian aristocracy, both secular and clerical, throughout the 17th Century. Such musical theater pieces were the Counter-reformation's answer to the opera and secular oratorio, usually based on tales from Graeco-Roman sources, beloved of the Humanists. If any difference in the music is to be heard, it is that the sacred oratorios are more purely aesthetic and intellectual, while the secular oratorio is more easily comprehended by the untrained listener.

For many, Johann Sebastian Bach is ‘the’ composer of the Baroque period, a master of harmony, counterpoint and genre. During his lifetime he was particularly renowned as a virtuoso organist, and his compositions for the instrument have formed the core repertory of any aspiring organist ever since. The content of the Orgelbüchlein – a selection of chorale preludes composed while Bach held the post of Ducal Organist at Weimar – includes several pieces that are considered to be among Sebastian’s finest works.

Julia Lezhneva, Franco Fagioli and Diego Fasolis: three stars of the Baroque unite to record Vivaldi’s most popular choral work. Julia Lezhneva – “a serene, sleek voice, beatific in timbre, with a bell-like resonance” (Financial Times) – adds the glorious solo motet Nulla in Mundo Pax Sincera. Franco Fagioli – “one of today's great vocal technicians” (The Guardian) – records the Nisi Dominus with its haunting ‘Cum Dederit’. Diego Fasolis and I Barocchisti are today’s Vivaldi interpreters par excellence.

MESSIAH is one of Handel's most popular works. Devised in 1741, the spectacular piece was made public the following year, to huge acclaim. The three-part oratorio is performed by a number of notable names here, including Lynne Dawson (soprano); Guillemette Laurens (mezzo-soprano); Charles Daniels (tenor); Antonio Abete (bass); Coro Della Radio Svizzerra; and conductor Diego Fasolis. The sparkling mix adds a new clarity to Handel's masterpiece, making this a very special release that easily transcends the ravages of time.