Italian 18 Set 2019

Contrary heroes: Symphonic poem Mazeppa and the opera fragment Sardanapalo performed by Karabits and the Weimar Staatskapelle. Sardanapalo who prefers wine and concubines to politics and warfare, and Mazeppa, who dies with glory, having endured pain and humiliation: dramatic literary models, impressively set to music by Franz Liszt. Written at the same time, these works represent Liszt’s ideas striving to unite literature and music, on the one hand modernising Italian opera and on the other advancing towards the symphonic poem in his orchestral writing.

Presented by the Festival della Valle d’Itria, this is the first modern-day staging of Leonardo Leo’s Neapolitan revision of Handel’s Rinaldo, a pastiche with a Mediterranean allure, which was composed in 1718 but considered lost until a few years ago. The story behind this rare opera is fascinating: the score of Handel’s masterpiece was brought illegally to Naples by the castrato singer Nicolò Grimaldi, who had performed Rinaldo in London. Once in Italy, the work was given a makeover by local composers, including Leo, who adapted it to the taste of the Neapolitan public, adding intermezzos and amusing characters. Director Giorgio Sangati has transformed Leo’s revision into a ‘ba-rock’ opera set in the 1980s, where the struggle between Christians and Turks is re-imagined as a battle between pop-rock singers (the Christians) and heavy-metal performers (the Turks). The two factions represent opposite perspectives on life and love. Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the Ensemble La Scintilla, a group of specialists in Baroque repertoire.

The Second Book of Madrigals of Carlo Gesualdo provides the focal point for the latest in La Compagnia del Madrigale’s stunning reappraisals of the glories of the Italian madrigal on Glossa.
Probably written by Gesualdo between the time of the double honour killing of his first wife and her lover and his subsequent remarriage, the second book presents a sophisticated compositional mastery quite in keeping with the later books, albeit offering a calmer and gentler approach compared to the more tortured and twisted musical and psychological turns found in the last books.

Based on 33 years of scholarship and promotion by the Istituto Nazionale Tostiano and a lifetime of studies on the part of Francesco Sanvitale, this volume lives up to its predecessors in bringing to wider attention the work of a born songsmith, at home in the English and French tongues as well as his native Italian, and one who brought the genre of salon song to a peak of perfection. No one, not even the most dedicated Tosti singers such as Gigli and Caruso, had ever addressed Tostis oeuvre with anything near a comprehensive approach. Yet the chronological approach to his work taken by this project proves that he was certainly not confined within the limited universe of love requited, rejected, desired, misunderstood, suffered or unspoken. The songs in this third volume cover the last decade of the 19th century, by which time Tosti had settled in London, been appointed singing teacher to the royal family and to a professorship at the Royal Academy of Music.

With his mature musicianship, powerful stage presence and engaging, approachable persona, French tenor Benjamin Bernheim stands out from the operatic crowd. In April 2019, he signed a long-term exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. His debut album for the yellow label, set for release this autumn, showcases the breadth and depth of his exceptional talent in a wide-ranging selection of tenor arias.