Marco Regina

In 1731, at the height of his London fame, Handel created his 28th opera seria: a vocal pyrotechnic about the rivalry, in love and war, between Alexander the Great and the Indian King Porus.

With "Les Chants de Jésus", the Schola Regina choir, conducted by Philippe Nikolov, brings to a close the trilogy of sacred songs initiated by its producer and artistic director, Max Guazzini. After Credo (2011) and Les Chants de Marie (2015), this 3rd opus aims to introduce the treasures of liturgical music in a popular spirit, to as many people as possible, but also to share them with believers, to remind how diverse our musical culture is. Taking its source in Gregorian chant, this music brings together the centuries through different musical forms that today rub shoulders.

The 18th century was the great time of the castrati, they celebrated the greatest triumphs in opera. But gradually the tenor voice also gained more and more weight, until it finally dominated the great roles in bel canto. One of those who strongly influenced this development was Annibale Fabbri, known as "Balino", whose voice would today be described as a "pure lyric tenor". Because of the beauty of his voice and his incomparable stage presence, he achieved great fame and received invitations to all the great stages of Europe. This album presents those roles that famous composers of the time such as Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Sarro, Handel or Caldara wrote for Fabbri, and at the same time follows the stations of Fabbri's performances throughout Europe, from Rome, Naples and Venice to London and Vienna. Tenor Marco Angioloni and the ensemble Il Groviglio succeed in making an impressive plea for a long-neglected voice of baroque opera in the first third of the 18th century.

Marco Beasley offers us an original way to discover the Italian religious repertoire for two tenors of the nascent Baroque. In fact, his fantastic experience as a singer allowed him to record these ‘sacred concerts for two voices’ alone, thanks to the technique of re-recording. A new dimension opens up to the listener thanks to the astonishing artistic coherence offered by this technique. And beyond technique, this disc attests to the emotion, both double and unique, guiding the musical gesture.

Sono passati quasi settant’anni dal giorno dell’incoronazione – la prima trasmessa in diretta televisiva – sotto le magnifiche volte dell’abbazia londinese di Westminster, e da quel 2 giugno la fama e la popolarità di Elisabetta ii non hanno fatto che aumentare. Nel suo ruolo pubblico ha vissuto in prima persona cambiamenti storici epocali, attraversando guerre mondiali e tempeste politiche; come capo della famiglia Windsor ha dovuto affrontare scandali e tragedie, divorzi e rappacificazioni. La ferma compostezza con cui è rimasta al centro della scena per tutti questi anni l’ha trasformata in un mito che il giornalista Alberto Mattioli e il cultore Marco Ubezio celebrano con pura passione e divertita riverenza…