Raul Montanari Ric Velardi

Alessandro Stradella was the undisputed star composer of his day who wrote hundreds of works in varying genres. His cantatas are in essence miniature operas in which the themes of love and the complexities of the human condition reflected the composer’s own ‘cloak and dagger’ misadventures amidst Roman and Venetian aristocracy. From an allegory of life in Apre l’uomo infelice and captivating pastoral scenes in Qui dove fa soggiorno, to unrequited love and the desire for freedom expressed in Per tua vaga beltade, Stradella adapted his inventiveness to his patrons’ tastes to create these veritable jewels in music, all of which are rich in splendid melodies and refined artistry.

Alessandro Scarlatti formed the bridge between the rich vocal style of the Italian Baroque masters of the 17th century and the gallant style of Mozart and his contemporaries. San Filippo Neri is grand and Oratorio in Handelian style, full of dramatic arias and striking instrumental effects. Excellent performance on authentic instruments by the specialist group Alessandro Stradella Consort, conducted by Estevan Velardi.

Alessandro Scarlatti (1660 – 1725) was the prolific composer of more than 800 cantatas. However, the majority of these compositions are unpublished and preserved in manuscript copy only. In this context, Maestro Estévan Velardi and Alessandro Stradella Consort will give life and exposure to two of Alessandro Scarlatti’s repertoire gems: the Serenatas “Al fragor di lieta tromba” and “Bel piacere ch’è la caccia”, First World recorded in this release on period instruments. The clamshell box with contains 2 CDs and a 100 pages volume edited by musicologists and Alessandro Scarlatti’s music scholars including the late Maestro Roberto Pagano, to whose memory the release is dedicated.

Alessandro Stradella was an important early composer of trumpet music. Like Melani, he worked in Rome for much of his career, though by 1681, when he wrote the wedding cantata Il barcheggio, he was living in Genoa; he was murdered in a Genoese street the following February and Il barcheggio is said to have been his last work.

Alessandro Melani (1639-1703) was a prolific author of cantatas: we know of some thirty works, many of them written for solo soprano and concertante trumpet, some with the accompaniment of strings and basso continuo and others yet with the only support of basso continuo. Our CD presents six such cantatas some of which - for example Quai bellici accenti - are relatively well-known, while others are less popular although of equally high musical standard. The soprano Rosita Frisani gives of them a fine interpretation, full of virtuosity and beautiful nuances, well supported by the Alessandro Stradella Consort conducted by Estevan Velardi, who has long devoted himself to 17th- and 18th-century Italian music.