Daniela Hodrova

A hitherto little-known manuscript now in the Czech National Library contains a Missa defunctorum by Caldara that comprises the first three sections of the Requiem liturgy (the Introit, Kyrie and Sequence). Nothing is known about the origins of the music or how it ended up in Prague, but it probably dates from the Venetian’s long years of service at the Habsburg court in Vienna (and it is known that he deputised for his boss Fux at the coronation of Emperor Charles VI in Prague in 1723).

The 350th anniversary of Alessandro Scarlatti’s birth fell in 2010 but did not receive the fuss that one of the most fascinating Italian Baroque composers deserves. His operas are particularly neglected but Daniela Barcellona and Concerto de’ Cavalieri go some way towards remedying this situation. Director Marcello Di Lisa has chosen a fascinating programme of sinfonias and arias from Scarlatti’s six last extant serious operas (1716-21), written for the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples (Tigrane, Carlo re d’Allemagna and Cambise) and for Rome’s Teatro Capranica (Telemaco, Marco Attilio Regolo and Griselda). Most are unpublished and have been edited from manuscript sources; 20 pieces receive world premiere recordings.

In the year 2009 Daniela Dolci discovered an interesting opera with obbligato cornett arias in the Austrian National Library that had been listed as a work by Giacomo Perti; with her ensemble Musica Fiorita, she gave concertante performances of the arias of the protagonists Rosinda and Emireno. After this, it turned out that not Perti, but Alessandro Scarlatti is the composer of this opera. The opera, premiered in Naples in 1697, is set in the city of Memphis in an idealised Egypt. The plot - as is usual for operas of this period - is quite intricate and complicated. Various love relationships and hardships connect the protagonists, with the conflict over the Egyptian throne being argued out at the same time. The arias are musically appealing, especially due to the use of a cornett (played by Bork-Frithjof Smith with virtuosity and beauty of tone).

This production of Bellini's famous masterpiece Norma was extraordinary in many aspects. Staged by Italian director and filmmaker Roberto Ando at the Teatro Regio in Parma, it gathered international stars like American soprano June Anderson and shooting star Daniela Barcellona as well as Russian bass lldar Abdrazakov. Audience and critics alike enthusiastically received the remarkable orchestral accompaniment. Fabio Biondi's transparent conducting and the authentic performance practice of Europa Galante illuminated the musical structure of Bellini's opera and provided a new perspective on early 19th century opera.