Santo e Jonny Flac

Il pomo d’oro and Francesco Corti present Handel’s Apollo e Dafne and Armida abbandonata, together with two outstanding vocalists: soprano Kathryn Lewek (Armida & Dafne) and baritone John Chest (Apollo). Handel composed these two cantatas shortly after his Italian sojourn (1706-1709), and they demonstrate his acquaintance with and aptitude for Italian operatic music. Compared to opera, supporting roles are left out of these relatively compact cantatas, increasing the focus on the main characters, and heightening the expressive depth of their music. Il pomo d’oro performs these pieces with historically-informed ears, lively and colourful. The cantatas alternate with several delightful orchestral pieces by Handel, including several movements from his Almira Suite.

Donizetti's three-act tragic opera Belisario was a resounding success in its day, driven by its composer’s superlative theatrical instinct and his skilful interweaving of intense tragic narrative and emotional pathos. Belisario is betrayed by his wife Antonina, who falsely accuses him of high treason. Belisario is blinded and exiled, with proof of his innocence coming too late, and is mortally wounded during a final military victory. This production was performed and recorded without an audience in Bergamo during the Covid-19 lockdown in November 2020 – a moving performance reflecting a spirit of defiance amidst ruin and darkness.

«“In questa storia, che è la mia” è un invito. Una spinta a rileggere la nostra storia. La storia di ciascuno di noi, di queste pagine di musica e parole, che abbiamo scritto e vissuto insieme, e di questo tempo che - sebbene non si leggano - porta anche le nostre firme»: così CLAUDIO BAGLIONI a proposito di “IN QUESTA STORIA, CHE È LA MIA”, il suo nuovo attesissimo album, con 14 brani inediti, sedicesimo album in studio della sua cinquantennale straordinaria carriera, a sette anni da “ConVoi”. “Un album ideato e composto come una volta – racconta Claudio Baglioni – Vero, sincero, fatto a mano e interamente suonato.

« On retrouve…le même élan, cette beauté sonore, cette profonde musicalité »… »la musique émouvante, déchirante jusqu’au dernier soupir. Le théâtre n’est pas loin, mais le drame se dessine à l’opposé de tout excès, de toute solllicitation dramatique ou émotive. Nigel Rogers chante…avec un sens de la prosodie, une clarté d’élocution et une sobriété de la ligne musicale ». –Opéra International