IL Teatro Spagnolo Dei Secoli D’oro

For today s audiences, Vivaldi s name exemplifies Venetian opera in the early 18th century but he was not the only composer to shape the distinctive musical aesthetic of the great trading city known as La Serenissima. In this release of arias by Vivaldi and his contemporaries, countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic further explores Venice s contribution to world s rich store of Baroque opera. Cencic recreates the Venetian ambiance with the support of Italian violinist/conductor Riccardo Minasi and his ensemble Il Pomo d Oro.

Naples in 1750 was one of the ten biggest cities in the world, and it spawned two of the biggest musical stars of the era: the castrati Farinelli and the much lesser known Caffarelli, whose real name was Gaetano Majorano. This release consists of arias written for Caffarelli, and you might treasure it for the flamboyant, high-volume singing of countertenor Franco Fagioli, who arguably comes as close as any of his contemporaries to conveying what the high-powered sound of the castrati was like (in the understandable absence of the genuine article). Or, you might be grateful to hear the music associated with Caffarelli, who in his own time had a reputation for being troublesome and has generally ignored by the historical opera revival movement.

The year 1603 marked a turning point for Carlo Gesualdo: at the age of thirty-seven, the Prince of Venosa, having made a name for himself with his first four books of madrigals, turned to sacred compositions with two substantial collections of Sacræ Cantiones, published that year in Naples by Costantino Vitale. The first volume (presented here) consists of nineteen five-part motets, while the second one, which has not survived in its entirety, contains the same number of six- part motets and a motet for seven voices.

After a long period of neglect, Handel's 1719 opera Ottone has attracted renewed attention from historical-performance groups. The opera deals with episodes from the life of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor in the 10th century, a topic so obscure that even for an 18th century audience an "argument" had to be attached to the libretto by way of background information. The opera was highly successful in Handel's own time, perhaps less for its musical value than for the always fun news stories about the stars in Handel's orbit; this time the feature was soprano Francesca Cuzzoni, who refused to sing the aria "Falsa imagine" until Handel threatened to throw her out a window.

This recording of Handel "Theodora" features a truly star-studded cast, with Lisette Oropesa in the title role. Joyce DiDonato as Irene, Michael Spyres as Septimius, John Chest as Valens and Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian as Didymus. Following great critical acclaim for recent performances in Europe and DiDonato's performance at the Royal Opera House earlier this year, this new version of the dramatic oratorio is accompanied by Il Pomo d'Oro orchestra and choir, conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev.

Joyce DiDonato has staked a powerful claim on the multi-faceted title role of Handel’s opera Agrippina. In the words of The Telegraph, she sings it with “authority, grandeur and high style”. She recently performed it to critical acclaim at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Maxim Emelyanychev, Chief Conductor of Il Pomo d’Oro. Joining them on this recording is a cast of established and rising stars that includes Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Franco Fagioli, Luca Pisaroni, Elsa Benoit and Jakub Józef Orliński.

This recording of Handel "Theodora" features a truly star-studded cast, with Lisette Oropesa in the title role. Joyce DiDonato as Irene, Michael Spyres as Septimius, John Chest as Valens and Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian as Didymus. Following great critical acclaim for recent performances in Europe and DiDonato's performance at the Royal Opera House earlier this year, this new version of the dramatic oratorio is accompanied by Il Pomo d'Oro orchestra and choir, conducted by Maxim Emelyanychev.

Following the recording of several complete Baroque operas: Faramondo, Farnace, Artaserse, Alessandro, all received with unrestrained critical enthusiasm eg Gramophone Editor's Choice, BBC Music Magazine CD of the Month, Handel Recording Prize, Max Emanuel Cencic once again brings together a fine group of singers and orchestra for the rarely recorded Handel opera, 'Tamerlano'. The title role is taken by the exceptional counter-tenor, Xavier Sabata.

Il Cerchio d'Oro were one of the many symphonic-oriented groups to come out of the initial boom of Italian productivity. They were formed in 1974 by the Terribile brothers (Gino and Guiseppe on drums and bass/guitars, respectively) and Franco Piccolini on keys. They were active on the gigging circuit around Savona but never managed to secure a recording deal, and so the only recordings initially available were a handful of singles from the late '70s following lineup changes (they're not particularly interesting from a progressive rock standpoint, either).
25 years after the band formed, Mellow records came along and dusted off some old recordings, releasing them as the self-titled "Cerchio d'Oro"…

Bach’s harpsichord concertos are arguably the first in the history of music designed specifically for this instrument. Composing them, Bach aimed to adapt the string writing of Italian instrumental concertos to a keyboard instrument, while simultaneously enriching this style with typically-German traits such as counterpoint and motivic development. Francesco Corti and il pomo d’oro present concertos BWV 1052, 1053, 1055 and 1058 as the first volume of what should become a cycle spanning four albums. Corti has chosen to combine these four concertos for the full orchestral sound they call for, while later recordings in this series will have a chamber setting in comparison. For tempo choices and melodic variations, Corti has been inspired by treatises from Bach’s time, as well as the composer’s own written-out ornamentations.