Scarlatti Serenata

By the time that Alessandro Scarlatti was writing the two serenatas recorded here by Fabio Bonizzoni and La Risonanza and inaugurating an exciting new series on Glossa, that celebratory cantata form, often employing allegorical characters, had been in existence for a mere half century. Scarlatti, as Bonizzoni says, “was one of the main sources of inspiration for Handel whilst the latter was in Italy, and this creates a real continuity with what we have been doing in the recent past”; notably the much-admired septet of recordings devoted to the Saxon composers Italian chamber cantatas.

Il giardino d'amore ou Venere e Adone (Vénus et Adonis) est une serenata à deux voix (SA), trompette, sopranino, cordes et basse continue du compositeur italien Alessandro Scarlatti, sur un livret en italien d'un auteur inconnu et composée dans les premières années du xviiie siècle. On ignore les circonstances de la composition de cette sérénade.

Alessandro Scarlatti was undoubtedly the greatest composer of vocal music in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries. However, despite his grandeur being recognized by historians, it s only recently that his music can be heard and appreciated in concerts. The serenata could be considered the form that lies between opera and cantata, a kind of mini-opera with the usual alternation between arias and recitatives but without the effects of staging. A characteristic of the beautiful and rare serenata recorded here is the presence of a general dancing nature of many of the arias along with real instrumental dances that, towards the end, intertwine with the arias.

Scarlatti fans will rejoice in this 3CD album from Australian early-music ensemble chacona, featuring renowned scholar and harpsichordist Rosalind Halton, who both directs and plays in the ensemble. Includes several world premiere recordings.

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 However, the majority of these compositions are unpublished and preserved in manuscript copy only.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 Scarlatti is generally considered one of the most important Italian composers of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. But his music, although it has received more attention in recent years, is still largely unknown. This is partly due to the large quantity of his output: in the genre of the chamber cantata alone at least six hundred compositions are with certainty attributable to him.

Deux oeuvres mineures de Scarlatti composent cet enregistrement, deux sérénades galantes mettant en scène l’une le triomphe de l’honnêteté sur Cupidon, l’autre Vénus et son fils l’Amour vantant ses victoires. Ersatz d’opéras, interdits par le pape À Rome lorsque Scarlatti est au service d’Ottoboni, mais sans vrai schéma dramatique, exportées sans grand succès à Naples comme Venere e Amore, ces compositions pour le plein air ou le théâtre privé sont charmantes mais d’un intérêt secondaire. Reste la curiosité au disque d’un volet du travail de Scarlatti peu connu.

In the 17th century, an astonishing stream of compositions poured out of Naples, and Neapolitan composers and performers enjoyed extraordinarily high reputations all over Europe. One of the most important occasions in Neapolitan musical life were the so-called Spassi di Posillipo, open-air festivals on the Neapolitan shore.

In the 17th century, an astonishing stream of compositions poured out of Naples, and Neapolitan composers and performers enjoyed extraordinarily high reputations all over Europe. One of the most important occasions in Neapolitan musical life were the so-called Spassi di Posillipo, open-air festivals on the Neapolitan shore.