Gaffi

Bernardo Gaffi's 'La forza del divino amore' (The Power of Divine Love) is an intriguing rarity, and receives its premiere recording on the Chaconne label. It is an oratorio (for chamber forces with solo trumpet), one of eight by the composer which were popular in their day, and it is based on an episode in the life of St Teresa of Ávila. It is a beautiful score, performed by Ensemble 'Pian & Forte', a group formed in 1989 and dedicated to rediscovering and performing works of seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Ensemble is joined by three vocal soloists, renowned exponents of the music of this period.

Danish soprano Ditte Andersen and Swedish mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg were heard to stunning effect in Spedidam's splendid 2006 recording of Gluck's Aristeo and Bauci e Filemone with the ensemble Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset. Here they tackle another obscure corner of the Baroque: cantatas and operatic arias discovered in the libraries of the palaces at Meinungen and Sonderhausen, many of which were previously unknown. The Italian composers represented include a few who are well known, but they are predominantly obscure – Antonio Caldara, Giovanni Battista Bononcini, as well as his brother Antonio, Francesco Gasparini, Giovanni Battista Alveri, Giuseppe Maria Andrea di Orlandini, Attilio Ariosti, Giovanni Porta, and Tommaso Bernardo Gaffi.