Francesco Trento

This is a world première production on DVD. Torvaldo merits greater attention than has been previously paid to it; the rich orchestration, preludes of infallible expression and recitative passage of extraordinary clarity deem this an opera of considerable interest.

Alzira is based on the play by Voltaire and displays the composer's maturity through glowing lyric moments, and the weaving together of complex emotional and musical strands.
All act with conviction as they are singing and bring good expression and diction to their roles…In the title role, Junko Saito sings with warm expressive tone, good diction and also acts with conviction. (MusicWeb International)

The Italian baroque seems to be an inexhaustible quarry for lovers of historical performance practice and beautifully balanced music. Francesco Antonio Bonporti was a composer-priest who, after studies in Innsbruck and Rome, spent most of his working life in his home town of Trento, once host to the Tridentinum, but in the early eighteenth century nothing more than a provincial nest.

Ferlendis composed four oboe concertos which, up until now, existed only in nineteenth-century copies of the scores, with only one being recorded. This is the first time these have been recorded on CD. Although the concertos contain some clear elements of Mozartian coinage, their melodic wealth of ideas and natural elegance point to the composer’s Italian temperament. Six trios, here in the instrumentation for oboe, flute, and bassoon, round off the recording.