"The famous composer Johann Adolf Hasse began his career as a tenor in Germany, displaying excellent quality and earning the praise of important musicians of the time, among them Mattheson himself (he sang again in Paris, in 1750, in duets with his wife).
"His deput as an opera composer took place in 1721.
"Hasse had excellent composition teachers, in particular Nicolò Porpora and Alessandro Scarlatti. The influence of the latter is obvious in most of the musical production of the 'dear Saxon' (or 'divine Saxon').
"In 1730 Hasse married Faustina Bordoni (Venice 1693 - Venice 1781), also called 'Faustina' or 'the new Siren', a very famous singer for her extraordinary virtuosity and the quality of her mezzo-soprano voice, appreciated by the major composers of the time, among them Händel himself. After their wedding, the singer became exclusive interpreter of her husband's operas. After numberless successful performances throughout Europe, Hasse was identified as one of the major representatives of 18th century serious Italian opera: a very prolific composers, he left to prosterity more than 50 melodrama, 10 intermezzos, 11 oratorios, a great deal and variety of religious music, cantatas of different kinds, solo instrument music, as well as other chamber and orchestral music.
"Admired also by famous and powerful people, such as Frederick the Great of Prussia and Maria Theresa of Austria, the Saxon composer was very succesful in blending some aspects of the German music stylistic rigor with the melodic quality typical of Neapolitan music.
"Hasse's vocal compositions reveal a very close and constant faithfulness to the literary original from which they took inspiration, even when such choice brought remarkable technical and interpretative difficulties to the performers. Already in the years around 1730, the arias by the Saxon author became a sought after means for bel canto virtuosity, launching pad and comparison rule for the skills of singers.
"Johann Adolph had always very friendly relations with the literary representatives of the time, many of them expressing a very high opinion of the composer and not sparing praise for his music. A meaningful example of this may be the following: Charles Burney described Pietro Metastasio and Hasse himself in this way "[...] This poet and this musician are, as in the 'Androgyne' of Plato, the two halves of what was once a single entity; since they possess in equal measure the characteristic mark of true genius, taste and discrimination. In the same way are dignity, coherence, clarity and precision inseparable companions to both. [...] without any slight to his comrades, he [Hasse] may be considered superior to all other lyrical composers, just as Metastasio is above all lyrical poets'.
"The particular vocal production presented in this recording includes an ensemble of four cantatas for soprano, two violin and bass continuos, a selection from a body body of compositions probably written by Hasse between the late twenties and the early thiries of the 18th century. The librettos, displaying the same neoclassical poise we find in the great theatrical works by the Saxon maestro, are the production of poets belonging to the arcadic cultural school, among them P. A. Rolli.
"These cantatas are significant and very important examples of the Italian bel canto style of the pre-classical/late baroque peiod. Voice is forced to unfold all of its potential resources, therefore we are offered passages of 'plain' and natural singing requirements, as well as passages where the vocal chords are subjected to the strain of producing sounds more typical of instrumental music (virtuoso pieces that resemble violin and harpsichord compositions of great breath).
"The technical difficulty of execution we mention, which applies not only to the vocal pieces but also the instrumental scores, is combined to antoher peculiarity of the tuneful arias for soprano: the very stressed syllabication of the lines is almost constant, except for the passages where the singer displays her polished skills performing a diminuendo of the last syllable of an expressively important final.
"It must be underlined that, contrary to what occurs in contemporary productions of the same kind, voice in these cantatas is not the primary and overwhelming element: an analysis of the musical texture reveals how the instruments play a far more than secondary role in these pieces, not just an accompaniment, but rather being conceived as other characters, creating a dialogue in which Hasse integrates the rhetorical and expressive images of the musical piece.
"The composer demonstrates a constan and thorough care in the choice of the harmonic, rhythmic and tune structures: such wealth and abudnance of peculiar and even unusual chords seldom is found in similar compositions by authors of the same period. The rhythmic structure is always very close to the expressive meaning and often surprises with inventions of rare variety, creativity and refinement. The singing chords can be described in the same way, displaying daring solutions of many kinds.
"The technical-compositional construction of the phrases is essential. In general thre real parts are present: singing doubled by violin 1; countersinging, doubled by violin 2 and bass line. The passages where one can hear four different parts are definitely few, and are introduced only at moments of particular intensity from the feeling-dramatic point of view.
"This 'simplicity' in composition is combined, however, to a richness and exuberance of detail that seldom is encountered elsewhere: a great deal of feelings, symbols, suggestive effects occuring one after the other. We witness musical passages of quite modest length, packed with messages. To Hasse's capacity of synthesizing his inspiration in few pages is added his unusual precision, a rare quality in that period, with which he marks expression and tempo directions. The formal structure is always based on alternating arias to recitative pieces, except for the cantata 'E pur odo' ('Yes I hear'), which begins with an instrumental 'overture'. The arias are all but one tripartite in the conventional pattern: A-B-A. The recitative pieces follow two traditional styles: they are sung with the accompaniment of bass continuos only or with full instrumental accompaniment.
"'Adone' ('Adonis') is the title of the cantata, on libretto by Rolli, 'Vaga madre di cari diletti' ('Fair mother of beloved delights'), of eminently mythological content: Adonis sings his praise of Venus.
"The structure consists of an aria (Andante), an instrumental recitative ('Con strumenti') and another aria (Allegro). In this piece Hasse handled voice as he never did. The soprano melody often has violin movement, as we can notice already in the first aria, inspired by Scarlatti's works, not devoid of difficult tune shifts, which however do not affect the musical flow of the piece. The center section of this composition makes an effective contrast with the other parts: minor mode and repeated notes stress the different feeling brought to the expression 'altri langue' ('others complain'). The accompanied recitative, wonderful and very sweet, fits perfectly the description of the Goddess of Love: each word is musically underlined with care and refinement, till it reaches the final virtuoso 'stretch', where the fast notes enhance the verb 'ravviva' ('revives'). The cheerfulness and liveliness, typical of the Italian style, effectively set in the sunny D major tone, bursts into the concluding aria. Here voice is put to the ultimate test, as the pulsating and fast urge of the sixteenths does not allow the singer to lean her voice against the tune line, spiked with difficulties of all kinds.
"The cantata 'Solitudine campestra' ('Country solitude'), also on Rolli's text, includes an aria (Moderato), a recitative and another aria (Allegro). The contemplative mood of the opening tune is well express by the G minor tonality. The style reminds us of A. Corelli's compositions, as well as of the French music of the time. There is quite a wealth of cadenzas in suspension to the dominant and an almost obsessive use of sevenths of sensibile pitch, with a very pre-romantic resonance. Nor are there missing many particular effects, from the echo play between two violins to striking contrasts in the expressive texture. Following the short but intense recitative, an aria of ternary rhythm is introduced, charming and graceful sketch of a bucolic landscape in which the music indulges in the description of birds, breeze, lambs. The pastoral character of the passage works its way up to soft tercets on the F pedal, emerging in the first few bars of the central portion of the aria.
"'E pur odo e non moro' ('Yes I hear you but I can't die') is a cantata of dramatic theme: the subject of unrequited love is written in the structural context including instrumental introduction (Allegro), recitative, aria (Moderato), recitative and aria (Allegro). The instrumental introduction passage, in a monothematic bipartite formula (reproposing the same theme at the beginning of the second section), reminds us of some similar Scarlatti compositions, both in style and technical construction. The bright and animated character, as well as the relentless waves of quatrains of sixteenths are echoing the harpsichord toccatas of the Neapolitan School, while at the same time opening the way to the movements of the furious finale. In the following recitative, we are surprised by daring harmonies, among them the concatenation of 'sevenths' to the 5/6 bars corresponding to the words 'suffering' and 'die'.
"Rich chromatic values and refined rhythm characterize the first aria from the very beginning: the melodic motion in conjunct degrees stresses the mourning and wailing mood of the piece. The syncopated effect, a solution repeated also in the last aria, used by the composer to stress the word 'respiro' ('breath') is worthy of notice, as is the interval in the superabundant second, very clearly of Neapolitan inspiration, underlining the phrase 'ombra dolente' ('doleful shadow'). We find also plenty of other peculiarities, such as the masterful use of staccato or the tune interval of the superabundant quarter in the psychological shift from sorrow to rage, at the point where 'ti sgridi' ('scolds you') is sang, or the rarefied sound texture at the end of the central movement of the aria, where only the basso continuo is left with the repetition of 'crudele' ('cruel'). After the second recitative, no less effective than the first one, the battle theme of fury in the concluding aria stands out. It must be observed how Hasse changes the technique of composition according to the poetic meaning: in the central portion, more strikingly dramatic than the rest, he introduces four real parts, instead of three, with a consequent solidification of the musical texture and suggestive impact of the resulting harmonies. Chromatic values, dissonances, vocal shifts (the one of the 39th bar, at the word 'mostro ingrato' - 'ungrateful monster' - is truly surprising), and virtuoso pieces. All is held together by a tone of noble poise, making this masterpiece stunningly effective, as similar compositions by Händel.
"'Pur deggio parire' ('However I must leave') is the only cantata where violins are never playing in unison, in fact also the only piece where the composer uses an almost counterpoint technique. The poem lines, naturalistic-sentimental-dramatic in tone, are expressed in an aria (Moderato) followed by a recitative and another aria (Poco adagio). The first part already states the main feelings: anxiety and sorrow. The center portion of the initial aria is splendid: at the phrase 'mi sento morire' ('I feel like dying') we witness something of rare beauty and intensity: the prima donna's feeling of death, of the body's failing, is rendered with such sublimity that one can hardly put it into words. So we rather invite the listener to be very attentive. In the recitative, describing wonderful beaches, the harping of the violin embodies the movement of the sea waves. Later, the final aria turns into a truly vivid moment of opera expression. The 'cutting' rhythm, with a semi-minim pulse, the counterpoint and rigorous layout clothe the restless, anxious and sorrowful feelings expressed by the singer. Here too we find several harmonic, melodic and rhythmic inventions, as the deliberate accent on normally plain, but high notes at the bars 9/10 and others.
"In consideration of all these elements, one must remark that these admirable composition of the Saxon author are in fact a precious rarity in the musical panorama of the time, in Italy and not only there. A fact that makes them certainly deserving of historical, critical and interpretative attention." (Filippo Ravizza. From the liner notes.)
Performers: Parnassus Symphonicus, Patrizia Zanardi
1. Vaga Madre Di Cari Diletti (Adone): Vaga Madre Di Cari Diletti
2. Vaga Madre Di Cari Diletti (Adone): Ma Tu, Soave Dea
3. Vaga Madre Di Cari Diletti (Adone): Dei Guardi 'L Folgorar
4. Solidate Campestre: Solitudine Campestre
5. Solidate Campestre: Quando, Del Sole
6. Solidate Campestre: Dolce È Sentire
7. Er Puro Udo E Non Moro: Allegro
8. Er Puro Udo E Non Moro: E Pur Odo E Non Moro
9. Er Puro Udo E Non Moro: Ah T'arresta, Oh Niso Infido
10. Er Puro Udo E Non Moro: Ma Come, A Chi Favello?
11. Er Puro Udo E Non Moro: Sì, Tu Cadrai Tra L'armi
12. Pur Deggio Partite: Pur Deggio Partire
13. Pur Deggio Partite: Spiagge Fiorite E Amene
14. Pur Deggio Partite: Tiranna Lontanzana
