Nicolò Zanon

This present CD recording of 12 Motets for 1, 2 & 3 Men’s Voices and Basso continuo of Giacomo Carissimi? might be best considered an oddity as much as an attempt to satisfy a curiosity. Since there are no existing autograph Motet manuscripts of Giacomo Carissimi, all manuscripts that have been transcribed by Consortium Carissimi are transcriptions themselves of Carissimi’s contemporaries. These transcriptions of both sacred and secular music come from Library Manuscripts or Early Printed Editions, consequently much if not all of this music has not been performed and heard since.

Pasquini’s golden era of dramatic composition was between the years of 1670 and 1680. Within the realm of the Oratorio genre, his creations were sought after outside the Roman circles. Performances were made in cities such as Florence, Modena, Naples and Vienna. An interesting annotation emerges from the correspondence of the Marquise of Ferrara, Ippolito Bentivoglio (studies done by Sergio Monaldini) in which Giacomo Zucchesini requests an Oratory be sung in Ferrara with a personal stipulation. E se si compiacesse ancora d’accompagnarlo con un altro di Bernardo Pasquini […] mi stimerei somma[men]te favorito. (And were it to be pleasing to have another one of Bernardo Pasquini, I would consider myself highly fortunate.)

During the 17th and 18th centuries, Naples’ fame as a musical centre attracted travellers, composers, instrumentalists and virtuoso singers alike. Among the aspiring musicians, the most highly-trained and sought-after were the castrati, promising boys aged between 8 and 12 who were subjected to an operation intended to preserve the exceptionally pure timbre of their treble voice. Forever virginal beings whose superhuman voices mesmerized their listeners they were nicknamed angiolilli, ‘little angels’, and sang in the most important churches and theatres of ‘Castrapolis’, a term coined to describe the southern capital and its high concentration of castrato sopranos.

The Keyboard sonata in G Major HobXVl:8 is one of Haydn's most famous works for keyboard music. lt was written around 1766 and is characterized by its freshness and lightness, typical of the keyboard music of the time. The work consists of tour movements: an allegro, a minuet, an andante, and a final allegro. The first movement, in an allegro tempo, opens with a lively and playful theme which alternates with a series of more delicate and suspended episodes. The second movement, in minuet time, is characterized by a sweet and cantabile melody that winds its way over a soft and delicate harmonic accompaniment. The third movement is a very singable and short andante that leads to a brilliant and amusing fourth and final movement: the latter has very interesting hints, which characterize Haydn's style and his era; lor example, the use of triplets and grace notes.

For his second recital album for BIS, countertenor and sopranist Nicolò Balducci, ‘a singer of a remarkably sweet sound and distinct vocal agility’ (Gramophone), presents arias that evoke love and pain, two basic ingredients of Italian opera in the 18th century. Often tailor-made for specific singers who were in some cases the foremost castrati from that era such as the legendary Farinelli, these arias expressed resolute valour, unbridled fury and sometimes extreme guilt, to the delight of audiences that enjoyed these operas with their far-fetched narratives inspired by mythology or historical events.

SOMM RECORDINGS announces the eagerly anticipated Volume 3 of Treasures from the New World throwing revealing new light on music from the Americas. Pianist Clélia Iruzun returns, accompanied by feted guitarist and Royal Academy of Music Professor Fabio Zanon (who provides informative booklet notes) and celebrated flautist Marcelo Barboza, both making their label debuts.