Cierta Idea de Europa

Antonio Caldara was a mainstay at the Hapsburg court of Charles VI, and this large-scale oratorio (almost 80 minutes long) to a text by the renowned Metastasio was premiered at the royal chapel in 1730. It's a series of recitatives, arias, and intermittent choral interjections telling the story of the Passion and meditating on it. The overall mood is devotional, but the attractive music occasionally startles, as in the trombone accompaniment to the soprano aria "Dovunque il guardo." The attractive soloists wrap their voices around sonorous verbal felicities, and Fabio Biondi's fine early-music band plays with verve, making this a welcome exploration of a substantial work by an important contemporary of Vivaldi.