Giacomo Contri

Exploding all stereotypes about diva rivalry, Nadine Sierra and Pretty Yende, two of today’s leading operatic prima donnas and close friends, took great delight in sharing the limelight at a sold-out Paris Philharmonie on 6 March 2023. The two sopranos’ voices complement each other beautifully in a selection of arias and duets that – taken from the Italian, French and American repertoire – combine operatic tradition with 20th-century flair. The duo were accompanied by conductor Giacomo Sagripanti at the helm of Les Frivolités Parisiennes. The digital album version features 5 bonus tracks, in which the singers, accompanied by conductor Giacomo Sagripanti, brought a touch of cinematic magic to the stage, “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz being one of the songs they include.

Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674) celebrated his 400th birthday in 2005. Reason enough to pay tribute to this most important composer of the 17th century with a recording of some of his oratorios. Thanks to a very lively live recording of a concert with Jérome Correas and Les Paladins on Pan Classics, we now get to know five of his much admired oratorios.

Commozione umana e bel canto barocco nel più fortunato dei drammi sacri di Perti, composto nel 1685, poi rimaneggiato e rieseguito più volte fino al 1718.

Genius vindicated! Carissimi would seem to have been one of those composers popularly associated with sacred genres (in part because he was a Jesuit priest in the important post of Maestro de cappella at the Roman Collegio Germanico, in part because of the whims of the recording industry) to the neglect of the secular genres—especially the cantata—which he is acknowledged to have pursued with such distinction. During his lifetime Carissimi's cantatas were very much admired and with the appearance of this delightful CD the weight of his contemporary reputation will be more evenly divided.

“The context of many songs written and recorded, are composed by people with ‘I’ problems…but not these songs. All of these songs are about you.” – Giacomo Gates

Giacomo Antonio Perti (6 June 1661 – 10 April 1756) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. He was mainly active at Bologna, where he was Maestro di Cappella for sixty years. He was the teacher of Giuseppe Torelli and Giovanni Battista Martini.

La Lingua profetica del Taumaturgo di Paola, San Francesco est un oratorio inédit de Giacomo Antonio Perti (1661-1756). Il a été redécouvert en 2014 par Francesco Lora, un musicologue bolonais, spécialiste de ce compositeur. Cet ouvrage, commandé par le mécène de Perti, Ferdinand de Médicis met en scène trois personnages de la cour de France du 15e siècle : Charles VIII, son épouse Anne de Bretagne et Louise de Savoie.

La riscoperta dell’oratorio Mosè liberatore del popolo ebreo (1685), per cinque voci, tromba e archi celebra il trecentocinquantesimo anniversario della nascita di Giacomo Antonio Perti, eclettico musicista bolognese nato nel 1661 e morto nel 1756 a 95 anni dopo oltre settant’anni di attività musicale.