Mariam Battistelli Alessandro Scarlatti Griselda, Op 114, R 35766 (live)

This is the first authoritative recording of Alessandro Scarlatti's Griselda, rendered with exquisite beauty by René Jacobs, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and an outstanding cast led by Dorothea Röschmann in the title role. Warming to the story of Griselda (originally by Boccaccio) – the low-born woman who endures a string of indignities as the king, Gualtiero, tests her suitability to be the mother of his heir – is not easy. But the added humanity of Apostolo Zeno's libretto, which invests Griselda with more backbone, and Gualtiero with more sympathy, than they had in Boccaccio's original, and the emotional immediacy of the performances, Röschmann's in particular, make this recording go down smoothly. It is also an abundantly melodic and beautifully orchestrated score, representing Scarlatti at the height of his powers.

Alessandro Scarlatti was both the most celebrated vocal composer of his day, and one of the most prolific to ever live. In his lifetime (1660-1725) he composed nearly 700 cantatas and 66 operas. He was also far more famous then than his son Domenico, whose harpsichord sonatas today have all but completely eclipsed his father's works.

This luxurious set containing 39 CDs, 3 DVDs, 1 CD-Rom and four detailed booklets will tell you the full story of Baroque opera in Italy, France, England, and Germany. No fewer than 17 complete operas (including two on DVD) and two supplementary CDs (the dawn of opera, Overtures for the Hamburg Opera) provide the most comprehensive overview of the genre ever attempted! The finest performers are assembled here under the direction of René Jacobs and William Christie to offer you 47 hours of music. An opportunity to discover or to hear again the masterpieces of Baroque opera, some of which have been unavailable on CD for many years.

With a voice described as one of the most beautiful Britain has seen in a generation (International Record Review), Elizabeth Watts has established herself among the brightest talents performing today. In this selection of rarely heard Alessandro Scarlatti arias from his cantatas, oratorios and operas, she is joined by the acclaimed period instrument ensemble The English Concert led by Laurence Cummings.

The soprano Jennifer Vyvyan was taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London by Roy Henderson, coach of Kathleen Ferrier. With Henderson’s help she formed a secure technique, and quickly won acclaim for both operatic and oratorio roles in a wide variety of repertoire. Best known now as a singer favoured by Benjamin Britten, Vyvyan was also a leading figure in the revival of Baroque repertory: a celebrated interpreter of Purcell, Rameau, Bach and Handel who starred in landmark 1950s/60s reappraisals of the Handel operas at Sadlers Wells, Covent Garden and elsewhere.

This is our fourth CD containing compositions by Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725) that were chiefly meant for the harpsichord and performed on it. The project stemmed, in a natural, almost parallel fashion, from the programme for the study and publication of the vast corpus of manuscript sources (no less than 25) of Alessandro Scarlatti’s pieces for keyboard instruments that was started by us more than ten years ago: the publication of his Opera Omnia per strumento a tastiera by the publisher Ut Orpheus Edizioni of Bologna (edited by Andrea Macinanti and Francesco Tasini) began in 2000 and was completed in 2012 with the printing of the sixth and last volume.

Thirty-five of Scarlatti’s oratorios are extant, a mere handful yet recorded. Biondi’s championing of them is very welcome, as this excellently recorded disc vividly demonstrates. His sterling research has uncovered date and place (1704, Rome) for the first performance of this mini-drama – the Virgin Mary, single-handedly and contrary to Christian doctrine, defeating the power of Lucifer and sentencing him ‘to eternal weeping and cries of pain’. Two Corelli trio sonatas serve as interludes within the oratorio. Rossana Bertini celebrates the Virgin’s birthday with a lovely fresh voice. Lucifer, unusually tenor rather than bass, is a taxing role – Crispi flags momentarily, though he is agile and well cast.