Igor Stravinsky - Petrushka; The Fairy's Kiss

"Provocative and probably previously unreleased reunion of two scores which has been essential for the ballet music in the Paris of before and after World War I. The Russian conductor Evgeni Mravinsky, who stayed in his homeland but remained always impervious to any ukaz, either political or aesthetical, dared to present in a single evening these two scores, both with the same accuracy of interpretation: the exuberance of a street theatre in Saint Petersburg, his native city, and the stylishness of an 'in Tchaikovsky manner' piece, where the Sleeping Beauty's awakening becomes an 'Icy Kiss'... Impressive and without competition!" (From the liner notes.)

Performers: Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Yevgeny Mravinsky

1. Petrushka, Ballet Suite: I. First Tableau

2. Petrushka, Ballet Suite: II. Second Tableau

3. Petrushka, Ballet Suite: III. Third Tableau

4. Petrushka, Ballet Suite: IV. Fourth Tableau

5. The Fairy's Kiss: I. First Scene

6. The Fairy's Kiss: II. Second Scene

7. The Fairy's Kiss: III. Third Scene - By The Mill

8. The Fairy's Kiss: III. Third Scene - Pas De Deux. Entrée

9. The Fairy's Kiss: III. Third Scene - Pas De Deux. Adagio

10. The Fairy's Kiss: III. Third Scene - Pas De Deux. Variation

11. The Fairy's Kiss: III. Third Scene - Pas De Deux. Coda

12. The Fairy's Kiss: III. Third Scene - Scene

13. The Fairy's Kiss: IV. Fourth Scene - Epilogue

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Rheinhold Gliere - The Red Poppy

"Rheinhold Glière (Reyngol'd Moritsevich Glier), a Soviet composer of Belgian descent, was born in Kiev in 1875, the son of a maker of wind instruments. He played the violin and wrote music at home and studied for three years at the Kiev Conservatory before entering the Moscow Conservatory in 1894. There he studied the violin with Hřimaly and composition with Taneyev, taking lessons in harmony from Arensky and his pupil Konyus and in orchestration from Ippolitov Ivanov. He completed his studies in 1900 with a one-act opera-oratorio after Byron, 'Zemlya i nebo' (Earth and Heaven).

"Glière's first employment was as a teacher at the Gnesin Music School, and he was to spend the summer holidays of 1902 and 1903 as tutor to the eleven-year-old Prokofiev. For two years from 1905 he studied conducting with Oscar Fried in Berlin, makin his first appearance as a conductor in Russia in 1908, while his compositions continued to make a favourable impression. In 1913 he returned to Kiev to teach the composition class at the Conservatory, of which he became director in the following year. In 1916 his former pupil Prokofiev appeared as soloist in Kiev in his own first piano concerto under the direction of Glière.

"From 1920 until his retirement in 1941 Glière taught composition at the Conservatory in Moscow. He showed particular interest in the music of the various ethnic minorities of the Soviet Union, making a detailed study of the music of Azerbaijan that bore fruit in his opera Shakh-Senem, written in 1924 and performed in Russian in Baku three years later, followed by staging in Azerbaijan in 1934. His musicological investigations extended to Uzbekistan and other Soviet republics, while the more familiar music of the Ukraine provided him with another native source of inspiration.

"During his career Glière occupied a number of official positions. In the early years of the Revolution he headed the music section of the Moscow Department of Popular Education and was Chairman of the organizing committee of the Union of Soviet Composers from 1938 until 1948. His work was officially recognised by various state awards, including the title of People's Artist, bestowed in 1938. He died in Moscow in 1956.

"As a composer Glière followed the Russian romantic tradition, something that brought him official praie in 1948 when the music of Prokofiev and Shostakovich was condemned. In particular his ballet music proved popular. 'The Red Poppy', later known, to avoid the connotation of opium, as 'The Red Flower', satisfied political choreographic demans and became a well known part of ballet repertoire from 1926 onwards, while the later ballet 'The Bronze Horseman', completed in 1949, also retained its place in Soviet repertoire.

"'The Red Poppy' ('Krasni mak'), with libretto and original décor by M. Kurilko and choreography by Lev Lashchilin and Vasily Tikhomikov, was first staged at the Bolshoy Theatre on 14th June 1927, when Ekaterina Geltser danced Tao-Hoa and Aleksey Bulgatov the heroic Captain. Set in a Chinese port, the story of the ballet is simply told. The dancer Tao-Hoa falls in love with the captain of a Soviet cargo ship, to whom she gives a red poppy. Li-Shan-Fu, her manager, plots to kill the captain by having her give him poisoned tea, but she refuses. Later, in a coolie uprising, she saves the life of the captain and is later killed in a coolie uprising by a bullet from Li-Shan-Fu. She hands a red poppy to a little Chinese girl, as she dies, as sign of love and freedom. Scope is given for divertissements in the second act, a dream-sequence, set in an opium den. Here Tao-Hoa sees a Golden BUddha, ancient goddesses, butterflies, birds and flowers.

"The ballet starts with an appropriate introduction, suggesting a Chinese setting with its pentatonic melodic material. A more ominous mood appears, suggesting the oppression to which the coolies, dock-workers are subjected, tyranny and suffering that will lead to their revolt. The dancing-girl Tao-Hoa enters, in a more lyrical atmosphere. The restaurant itself has a cosmopolitan clientèle, represented in the various dances that follow, including a 'Boston Waltz' and finally leading to the entrance of the Russian captain and the dance of his sailors. The love of the couple is established in Tao-Hoa's scene and variation, followed by a coolies' victory dance and a celabratory dance by the Russian sailors.

"The second act is set in an opium den. Here there is a dance of Chinese womne and an 'Adagio' for the four goddesses of ancient times. Tao-Hoa dreams of the Buddha, of the fabulous phoenix of legend and of the ship of her beloved.

"Reality returns with a Charleston and a dance in the restaurant, with preparations for the Chinese theatre, followed by an 'Umbrella Dance', a 'Puppet Dance', with xylophone, and a 'Chinese Acrobat Dance'. The coolie uprising is plotted and in this the captain is only saved by the intervention of Tao-Hao, allowing him to sail away with his men. In the aftermath Tao-Hoa is shot, to hand a red poppy to a little girl, as she dies. The flower, by its colour, symbolizes communism, which will bring freedom to the oppressed, a sign of hope of a better world, expressed in the well known Internationale, the Communist anthem.

"'The Red Poppy', its name changed to 'The Red Flower' in 1957, was greeted with some acclaim at its first staging. It seemed innovative, with a clear and acceptable political message, fulfilling the aims of the Soviet cultural establishment. Musically the libretto presented the composer with a number of problems. While the oriental setting provided an exotic background, enabling Glière to make use of characteristic pentatonic melodies, there were inevitable juxtapositions of other musical material, associated with colonial oppression or with the gallant Russian sailors and their captain. It might, therefore, be suggested that the work as a whole lacks something of the unity that might have been found in a more traditional ballet. Whatever reservations might be held about the score, Glière certainly won lasting success with 'The Red Poppy', of which excerpts, such as the 'Russian Sailors' Dance', have become very familiar." (Keith Anderson. From the liner notes.)

Performers: St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra, André Anichanov

1.1. Act I: Introduction

1.2. Act I: Coolies' Dance

1.3. Act I: Tao-Hoa's Entrance

1.4. Act I: Restaurant

1.5. Act I: Malik's Dance

1.6. Act I: Boston Waltz

1.7. Act I: Scene Of European Dance. Captain's Entrance And Sailors' Dance

1.8. Act I: Tao-Hoa's Scene

1.9. Act I: Variation With Gold Fingers

1.10. Act I: Coolies' Victory Dance

1.11. Act I: Dance Of The Soviet Sailors. Apple

1.12. Act II: Introduction. Scene In The Smoking Room

1.13. Act II: Scene

1.14. Act II: Dance Of The Chinese Woman

1.15. Act II: Adagio Of Four Goddesses

1.16. Act II: Adagio

2.1. Act II: Prelude

2.2. Act II: Tao-Hoa's Vision

2.3. Act II: Scene: Procession

2.4. Act II: Sword Dance

2.5. Act II: Phoenix

2.6. Act II: Adagio

2.7. Act II: The Rose Ship

2.8. Act III: Charleston

2.9. Act III: Dance In Restaurant

2.10. Act III: Preparation Of The Chinese Theatre

2.11. Act III: Umbrella Dance

2.12. Act III: Puppet Dance

2.13. Act III: Chinese Acrobats' Dance

2.14. Act III: Scene: The Conspiracy

2.15. Act III: Scene Of Confusion

2.16. Act III: Captain's Scene

2.17. Act III: Tao-Hoa's Scene; The Departing Ship

2.18. Act III: Rebellion Scene

2.19. Act III: Tao-Hoa's Death

2.20. Act III: Apotheosis

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Igor Stravinsky - Complete Music for Piano & Orchestra

"Igor Stravinsky enjoyed a lifelong association with the piano. From his earliest childhood works to a few preliminary sketches for a piano sonata left incomplete at the time of his death in 1971, the composer was seldom far from the keyboard. His piano works often serve as harbingers for larger, more familiar compositions. One often sees new contrapuntal patterns, new textural outlays, and new harmonic combinations emerging in a piano work just before appearing in the larger symphonic and choral works. Stravinsky himself referred to the piano as the 'fulcrum' of his compositional devices. The simple truth is that, in comparison to some of the composer's landmark compositions such as 'The Rite of Spring', 'Symphony of Psalms', and the 'Symphony in Three Movements', his piano literature (including the works on this recording) is too often unjustly neglected. Yet each piano work, while significant in itself, also opens new doors to understanding Stravinsky's sustained compositional evolution.

"Stravinsky's setting of the 'Song of the Volga Boatmen', scored for winds and percussion, captures the ancient spirit of a nation that remained unbendingly resilient. Over the years this iconic Russian folksong drew the attention of many composers, Mili Balakirev's arrangement being perhaps the best known. Stravinsky's Swiss exile during the First World War had stirred nostalgic feelings for his lost homeland as evinced in several settings of folks tales he knew as a child. With the 1917 February Revolution fresh in his mind, his memories grew particularly vivid. The composer supposedly prepared the arrangement for the Volga melody as a favour to Sergei Diaghilev. The Ballets Russes impresario needed a new work to replace the traditional playing of the Russian National Anthem 'God Save the Tsar' before performances. But the request for a new anthem actually came directly from the recently instated Russian parliament. Stravinsky's manuscript reveals that he initially entitled the arrangement 'Hymne à la nouvelle Russie'. The composers literally scored the famous song overnight, dictating the music to his friend Ernest Ansermet who dutifully took down every note. Stravinsky added a piano reduction of the work just below the orchestration. The manuscript also includes a coloursful red banner on the cover, sketched by Stravinsky's friend Picasso as an acknowledgement of the Russian Revolution.

"In addition to composing and conducting, Stravinsky assumed the roles of touring concert pianist for the better part of three decades. Written for his own unusually large hands, his piano music is idiosyncratic, and consequently often prodigiously difficult. The composer undertook concertizing with typical fervour. He devoted hours to honing his pianistic skills while also studying with the well-known pedagogue Isidore Philipp. Given his concerns about the excessive 'emotive exploitation' of his works by other interpreters, Stravinsky often retained the exclusive rights to public performance for years before permitting other to play his piano works.

"The Apollonian virtues of neoclassicism's clarity and leannes, to which the composer had been steadily drawn, were made unmistakably evident in his landmark Octet for wind instruments of 1923. Immediately following the Octet came the 'Concerto for piano and wind instruments', wherein the piano takes on a virtuoso concertante roles, partnering an equally important wind ensemble (with no strings other than double basses). The Concerto was written in Biarritz in 1923-4 and dedicated to Natalie Koussevitzky, whose husband, Sergei Koussevitzky, conducted the May 1924 premier in Paris with Stravinsky as the soloist. This three-movement work opens with a 'Largo' written in the style of a French Overture. The stylized dotted rhythms quickly give way to a mechanistic 'Allegro' reminiscent of many of the hard driving movements found among Bach's keyboard Partitas and English Suites. The form of the first movement is somewhat akin to a classical concerto, complete with a developmental middle section that brings to mind the Czerny and Hanon keyboard studies familiar to all budding pianists. The recapitulation leads to a rhythmically complex, jazzy piano cadenza in the style of Gershwin, disclosing just how taken by American jazz, especially ragtime, Stravinsky had become. The movement ends with a return to the opening stately French Overture material.

"The middle movement, originally written as a 'Larghissimo' but changed to 'Largo' in the revised 1950 score, incorporates a wondrously serene 'cantabile' style of piano writing not often found in Stravinsky's music of the 1920s. The movement's two melismatic cadenzas carry a very rare rubato marking, while the pianistic writing is clearly rooted in the highly ornate filigree so often encountered in the slow movements of Beethoven's early piano sonatas.

"The closing 'Allegro', with its percussive opening material built around open fourths and fifths, exhibits a satirical pastiche blending café tunes, jazz rhythms and even a Baroque-styled fughetta that appears out of nowhere. Taken as a whole, the movement bears a clear relationship to the keyboard toccatas of the eighteenth century, with rapid changes of constrasting and often seemingly unrelated material. Stravinsky performed the work nearly fifty times over the next few years, and its success spawned the composition of several subsequent works for solo piano, two pianos, piano and orchestra, and piano and violin.

"Composed in 1928-9 mostly in Nice, the 'Capriccio' for piano and orchestra is, in effect, Stravinsky's second piano concerto. So eager were audiences to see the composer perform his own works that he was regularly urged to write a sequal to his 'Concerto for piano and wind instruments'. Indeed Stravinsky was in such demand as a pianist that could only composer intermittently, as his touring would allow. The 'Capriccio' was the only new work written in 1929. It is of comparable length to the earlier Concerto; but the similarities stop there. Here the composer employs a full orchestra rather than a wind ensemble and takes full advantage of the addition of strings. Moreover, the piano writing stands in stark contrast to the earlier Concerto. While the outer movements of the Concerto were firmly rooted in the piano's natural percussiveness, the 'Capriccio' is far more lyrical. There are still passages that hark back to the assertive writing of such wind works as the Octet and 'Concerto for piano and wind instruments', but for the most part the 'Capriccio's melodious writing reflects Stravinsky's more recent compositions, especially the two important ballets 'Apollo' and 'The Fairy's Kiss'. As for the title, the composer wrote in his 'Chronicle' that he had in mind a fantasia, meaning a freely structure form that would give voice to a more impromptu-like, capricious style of writing.

"The first movement begins with an introduction marked 'Presto' that quickly gives way to the movement's main material - displaying piano writing that explores the entire keyboard in an undending, continuously expansive manner. From start to finish, with little opportunity for the soloist to grab a breath, the pianist must shape the long, mellifluous lines as part of an unbroken fabric. The movement ends with a restatement of the opening material.

"The heading of the middle movement, 'Andante rapsodico', indicates that the composer was once again writing in an almost improvisatory style, replete with rapid rhythmic figurations of nine-, elevent- and thirteen-note groupings. The resulting flight of fancy are reminiscent of the highly ornamental embroidery evident in the music of Carl Maria von Weber, who, as Stravinsky recalled in his 'Chronicle', exercised a 'spell' over him at the time.

"The second movement leads without pause into the final 'Allegro capriccioso ma tempo giusto' from whence the title of the work springs, since this third movement was in fact composed first. The form is stricter here, adhering to the principles of a classical rondo. The perpetual-motion writing that propels the movement is brilliantly spun throughout both the piano and orchestra.

"The 'Capriccio' was premiered at a Paris Symphony concert in December 1929 with Stravinsky at the piano and his friend Ernest Ansermet on the podium; the composer later revised the score in 1949, but only with minor alterations. Nearly forty years after its premier, the 'Capriccio' found a new home on stage with George Balanchine's 1968 ballet 'Jewels' in which Stravinsky's music was employed in the 'Rubies' section of this perennially popular New York City Ballet production.

"Completed in late July 1959, 'Movements' marked by the composer's most intricate serial work to date - his 'most advanced music' as he declared in 'Memories and Commentaries'. Scored for piano and an orchestra that included a harp and celesta, this astringent, compactly structured work assigns the most important roles to the solo piano. Initially, in fact, Stravinsky entitled the work 'Concerto for piano and groups of instruments'. But he soon did away with the description since the piano does not serve the same role it occupied in his earlier two works for piano and orchestra. Here the keyboard's use is more compressed, more of a contributor to the chamber music environment in which it finds itself.

"The piano seems to have assumed the roles of a solo instrument as a consequence of a commission by Swiss magnate Karl Weber, who wish to have a Stravinsky piano piece for his wife Margrit to perform. 'Movements' was premiered at the Town Hall in New York in January 1960 with Weber at the piano and the seventy-eight year old Stravinsky conducting. Originally there were five short movements (without individual titles and carrying only metronomic indications), including four even briefer intervening sections, marked as 'interludes', of only a few bars without piano (although by the time the work was published those headings were dropped). The work outlines a lexicon of serial techniques: rotations, retrograde segmentations - all within an unmistakably pointillistic orchestral structure. Stravinsky's close examination of the music of Krenek and the piano pieces of Stockhausen at that time evidently left an imprint. The score of 'Movements' reveals a pianism unlike anything Stravinsky had written before. The piano itself establishes a timbral constancy right in the centre of kaleidoscopically changing patterns of constrasting instrumental colours. Occassionally the piano is head alone, but even then only briefly. Most often it is found in combinations with one of the orchestral 'choirs'. Spatially, the pianism is also notably Webernesque in its exploration of the entire register of the keyboard. Compositionally, the work is a testament to Stravinsky's ongoing vitality at the age of seventy-seven, and his remarkable embrace of the most advanced, contemporary serial techniques.

"Also known as the Basle Concerto, the 'Concerto in D' was commissioned for the Basel Chamber Orchestra (Basler Kammerorchester) in 1946 by Paul Sacher, the conductor of the ensemble. Sacher was not only an advocate of Stravinsky during the composer's lifetime, but in the 1980s he established the Sacher Stiftung in Basel, where the vast majority of the composer's archives are now held. This elegant string concerto was written at a time when Stravinsky was acclimatizing to Los Angeles and the dizzyingly popular musical styles to which he was constantly exposed. As a result, the composer dabbled in film music, wrote ballet music for a Broadway revue, and completed a work in the jazz idiom, the 'Ebony Concerto' for Woody Herman, written just before the Basle Concerto.

"Scored for the full complement of strings, the 'Concerto in D' fully explores the richness of a full-blooded string ensemble in much the same way as his earlier Concerto 'Dumbarton Oaks' (1937-8) exploited the opportunities afforded by a chamber orchestra for both strings and winds. The Basle Concerto's string writing runs the gamut of special techniques including cleverly employed spiccato and pizzicato writing often juxtaposed with beautifully lyrical writing assigned to various parts of the orchestra. The Concerto is cast in three movements and displays neoclassical writing at its cleanest - unadorned and alternately gritty and graceful without artifice. The jutting silences and syncopations obvious throughout the first movement, for example, are characteristically Stravinskian in the way they energize the music's flow. The second and third movements reveal a composer still committed to the 'tension and release' formula of tonality but increasingly allowing prolonged dissonances to stand on their own without immediate resolutions. The work was composed entirely in Hollywood shortly before Stravinsky undertook his landmark ballet 'Orpheus', also notable for its luminous string writing.

"Written for full orchestra, including piano and harp, the 'Canon (on a Russian Popular Tune)' is one of Stravinsky's least-known works. The composer originally entitled the piece 'Canon for Concert Introductions or Encore' in the manuscript copy. Written quickly in 1965, and constituting an interruption in the middle of composing the monumental 'Requiem Canticles', it is merely a minute in duration; but its brevity belies a fascinating web in the canonically intricate treatment of the famous 'Coronation' theme from the finale of the composer's 1910 ballet 'The Firebird'. Thematic inversions and augmentations of on of Stravinsky's most memorable folk tunes abound as they snake their way through the separate strands of the orchestra. The switching back and forth between duple and triple time signatures provides a throwback to the alternating asymmetrical metres of the original ballet score. Stravinsky, who sometimes wrote little canons as gifts to his friends, composed the work as a memorial tribute to his old friend Pierre Monteux, who had died a year earlier." (Charles M. Joseph. From the liner notes.)

Performers: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov, Steven Osborne

1. Song Of The Volga Boatmen

2. Piano & Wind Concerto: I. Largo - Allegro - Maestoso

3. Piano & Wind Concerto: II. Larghissimo

4. Piano & Wind Concerto: III. Allegro - Agitato - Lento - Stringendo

5. Capriccio: I. Presto

6. Capriccio: II. Andante Rapsodico

7. Capriccio: III. Allegro Capriccioso Ma Tempo Giusto

8. Movements: ♪ = 110

9. Movements: ♩ = 52

10. Movements: ♪ = 72

11. Movements: ♪ = 80

12. Movements: ♪ = 114

13. Concerto In D Major: I. Vivace

14. Concerto In D Major: II. Arioso: Andantino

15. Concerto In D Major: III. Rondo: Allegro

16. Canon On A Russian Popular Tune

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Mosaic Select 30: Boogie Woogie and Blues Piano

"While most Mosaic limited-edition boxed sets concentrate on recordings by an individual bandleader or a single record label, 'Boogie Woogie and Blues Piano' features sessions by a number of different artists from several labels active in the 1930s and early '40s, when boogie-woogie was very popular. Fifteen different pianists are featured (if one counts Lionel Hampton playing two fingered-duo piano in a band setting), though it is the giants of the genre, Meade "Lux" Lewis, Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, and Jimmy Yancey who are given the most exposure. The first three are individually paired (Johnson and Ammons) and play together as a trio, occasionally accompanying blues vocalist Joe Turner or adding a superfluous rhythm section. Lewis is clearly the most inventive of them all, especially when performing his hit 'Honky Tonk Train Blues' (revived in a big-band setting by rocker Keith Emerson during the '70s) or his lesser-known 'Whistlin' Blues'. Ammons has the strongest rhythmic sense, as displayed in the two takes of 'Shout for Joy'. Johnson is heard in several small group sessions as well, featuring Turner along with alto saxophonist Buster Smith and trumpeter Hot Lips Page. Yancey, who was recorded more sporadically than Lewis, Johnson, and Ammons, is extensively featured, playing solo, accompanying singer Faber Smith and occasionally singing himself. Yancey's slower, blues-drenched style is unmistakable for anyone else, highlighted by his own 'Yancey Stomp' and the two takes of 'Yancey's Bugle Call'. There is a sampling of other pianists, including Joe Sullivan, Mary Lou Williams (who played nearly every style that appeared during her lifetime with authority), Teddy Wilson (who never considered himself a talented boogie-woogie player), Nat King Cole, and Sir Charles Thompson (each of whom duets with Hampton and the more commercial Freddie Slack. The blues piano sessions of Cripple Clarence Lofton wrap this enjoyable collection with a flourish. The sound restoration and Dan Morgenstern's excellent liner notes add to the value of this limited-edition compilation." (Review by Ken Dryden from AllMusic. See here.)

1.1. Meade "Lux" Lewis - Honky Tonk Train Blues

1.2. Meade "Lux" Lewis - Whistlin' Blues

1.3. Meade "Lux" Lewis - Bear Cat Crawl

1.4. Albert Ammons - Shout For Joy

1.5. Albert Ammons - Shout For Joy

1.6. Joe Turner & Pete Johnson - Goin' Away Blues

1.7. Joe Turner & Pete Johnson - Roll 'Em Pete

1.8. Meade "Lux" Lewis, Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons - Boogie Woogie Prayer (Pt. 1)

1.9. Meade "Lux" Lewis, Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons - Boogie Woogie Prayer (Pt. 2)

1.10. Pete Johnson - Boogie Woogie

1.11. Harry James - Boo-Woo

1.12. Harry James - Boo-Woo

1.13. Harry James - Woo-Woo

1.14. Harry James - Woo-Woo

1.15. Harry James - Home James

1.16. Harry James - Jesse

1.17. Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons - Boogie Woogie Man

1.18. Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons - Barrel House Boogie

1.19. Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons - Cuttin' The Boogie

1.20. Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons - Foot Pedal Boogie

1.21. Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons - Walkin' The Boogie

1.22. Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons - Sixth Avenue Express

1.23. Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons - Pine Creek

1.24. Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons - Movin' The Boogie

2.1. Pete Johnson - Cherry Red

2.2. Pete Johnson - Baby, Look At You

2.3. Pete Johnson - Jump For Joy

2.4. Pete Johnson - Lovin' Mama Blues

2.5. Meade "Lux" Lewis, Pete Johnson & Albert Ammons - Cafe Society Rag

2.6. Joe Sullivan - Low Down Dirty Shame

2.7. Joe Sullivan - I Can't Give You Anything But Love

2.8. Joe Sullivan - I Can't Give You Anything But Love

2.9. Benny Carter - Joe Turner Blues

2.10. Benny Carter - Joe Turner Blues

2.11. Benny Carter - Beale Street Blues

2.12. Benny Carter - Beale Street Blues

2.13. Will Bradley - Down The Road A Piece

2.14. Will Bradley - Down The Road A Piece

2.15. Will Bradley - Down The Road A Piece

2.16. Ray McKinley & Freddie Slack - Southpaw Serenade

2.17. Ray McKinley & Freddie Slack - Southpaw Serenade

2.18. Will Bradley - Basin Street Boogie

2.19. Will Bradley - Basin Street Boogie

2.20. Teddy Wilson - A Touch Of Boogie

2.21. Lionel Hampton - The Munson Street Breakdown

2.22. Lionel Hampton - Central Avenue Breakdown

2.23. Lionel Hampton - Bouncing At The Beacon

2.24. Henry "Red" Allen - K.K. Boogie

2.25. Henry "Red" Allen - K.K. Boogie

3.1. Mary Lou Williams - Little Joe From Chicago

3.2. Jimmy Yancey - Yancey Stomp

3.3. Jimmy Yancey - State Street Special

3.4. Jimmy Yancey - Tell 'Em About Me

3.5. Jimmy Yancey - Five O'Clock Blues

3.6. Jimmy Yancey - Slow And Easy Blues

3.7. Jimmy Yancey - The Mellow Blues

3.8. Jimmy Yancey - I Received A Letter

3.9. Jimmy Yancey - East St. Louis Blues

3.10. Jimmy Yancey - Bear Trap Blues

3.11. Jimmy Yancey - Old Quaker Blues

3.12. Jimmy Yancey - Cryin' In My Sleep

3.13. Jimmy Yancey - Death Letter Blues

3.14. Jimmy Yancey - Death Letter Blues

3.15. Jimmy Yancey - Yancey's Bugle Call

3.16. Jimmy Yancey - Yancey's Bugle Call

3.17. Jimmy Yancey - 35th And Dearborn

3.18. Jimmy Yancey - 35th And Dearborn

3.19. Cripple Clarence Lofton - Strut That Thing

3.20. Cripple Clarence Lofton - Monkey Man Blues

3.21. Cripple Clarence Lofton - Policy Blues

3.22. Cripple Clarence Lofton - Brown Skin Gal

3.23. Cripple Clarence Lofton - You Done Tore Your Playhouse Down

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Marc-Antoine Charpentier - David & Jonathas

"Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Biblical tragedy ('tragédie Biblique'), 'David et Jonatahas' (H. 490), with a libretto by Père Bretonneau, was performed at the Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris on 28 February 1688. It was revived in 1706 and 1715 (Collège d'Harcourt), and later at other Jesuit colleges, at Amiens and La Flèche (1741) among others. 'David et Jonathas' has nothing in common with the 'tragédie lyrique' composed by Lully; for instance, the prologue is an integral, overlapping part of the work (on the model of the Italian opera). It is a piece of sacred music destined for the divine office, of a profoundly inward, meditative character. The main body of the work resembles a statis theatrical piece, the five acts appearing to be vertiable psychological tableaux for each of the principal characters. Recitative (i.e. the action) is virtually entirely absent from the work which abounds in elaborately developed 'airs', often with orchestral accompaniment (such as the 'air' of Jonathan, 'A-t-on jamais souffert' in Act IV), choruses, 'simphonies' and dance numbers. 'David et Jonathas' was intended to serve as an interlude for a five-act Latin tragedy by Père Chamillart, 'Saül', recited by the pupils of the college. The complete work therefore consisted of eleven acts (prologue of 'David', Act I of 'Saül', Act I of 'David', and so on), and the spoken Latin text overlapped the sun French one. All of the action was concentrated in 'Saül'.

"There is no action in 'David et Jonathas' because it had just been narrated in 'Saül': the two works were interwoven with one another. But the matter is rendered even more complex by the fact that 'David', on the one hand, and 'Saül', on the other, are not one and the same drama, but two contrasting aspects of the same drama, each one reacting on the other, thereby investing one another with greater power. The 'Saül' + 'David' structure does not show the drama of one -or- the other, but alternatively both the one -and- the other. The psychology of the characters is increasingly refined, each gesture being presented to the spectator with its various consequences in the two camps: the characters appear all the more human as their actions are contradictory or are received as such in the two camps; they seem more objectively real. 'Saül' is set in the camp of the Israelites, 'David' in that of the Philistines, their enemies. We are not very far from the multiple-scene theatre of today.

"Almost unique in its genre, because there was only one 'precedent' - in 1687 ('Celse', also by Charpentier, but this work is lost), the project presents something of the aspect of a wager; it dates from 1688, and was thus composed immediately after the death of Lully, as if to challenge the operatic monopoly of the Royal Academy. The audience was not mistaken, by the way, when it applauded 'David' and dropped 'Zéphire et Flore' by M. de Lully le Cadet, performed at the same period on the prestigious stage of the Royal Academy of Music: the chronicler of the 'Mercure' (March 1688) devoted an article of five pages to the former while dismissing the latter in a few rigid lines.

"Until 1687 the Lullyist type of the 'tragédie lyrique' seemed to be the only possible operatic principle in France. At the same time the (modernist) concepts regarding the imitation of the ancients were defended by Perrault, Longepierre, Fontenelle and others. It was highly tempting to young authors to create a new type of operatic spectacle, particularly since Lully was no longer there to enforce his monopoly. The Lullyist type of the 'tragédie lyrique' aimed at being an imitation of the great tragedies of ancient Greece. 'David et Jonathas', composed by Charpentier at the age of 44, during a crucial period, cannot be regarded in any other way but as a counter-proposition to the Quinault-Lully model, as were other, by the way, such as Racine's 'Esther' and 'Athalie'.

"'David et Jonathas' is an opera and by no means an oratorio. As if to cut short any possible disput on the subject, Marc-Antonine Charpentier had composed an oratorio on the same subject in 1681-82, 'Mors Saülis et Jonathae' (H. 403)." (Jean Duron. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Les Arts Florissants, William Christie, Gérard Lesne, Monique Zanetti, Jean-François Gardeil

1.1. Prologue: Ouverture

1.2. Prologue, Scène I: 'Où Suis-je? Qu'ai-je Fait?'

1.3. Prologue, Scène II: 'Dois-je Éprouver Le Secours De Vos Charmes?'

1.4. Prologue, Scène III: 'Retirez-vous Affreux Tonnerre'

1.5. Prologue, Scène IV: 'Quelle Importune Voix Vient Troubler Mon Repos?'

1.6. Prologue, Scène V: 'C'est Assez? Ai-je Enfin Épuisé Ta Colère?'

1.7. Acte I: Marche Triomphante

1.8. Acte I, Scène I: 'Du Plus Grand Des Héros Publions Les Exploits'

1.9. Acte I, Scène II: 'Allez, Le Ciel Jaloux Attend Un Légitime Hommage'

1.10. Acte I, Scène III: 'Ciel! Quel Triste Combat En Ces Lieux Me Rappelle?'

1.11. Acte I, Scène IV: 'Le Ciel Enfin Favorable À Mes Vœux'

1.12. Acte I: Menuet

1.13. Acte II: Prélude

1.14. Acte II, Scène I: 'Quel Inutile Soins En Ces Lieux Vous Arrête?'

1.15. Acte II, Scène II: 'Dépit Jaloux, Haine Cruelle'

1.16. Acte II, Scène III: 'A Votre Bras Vainqueur Rien Ne Peut Résister'

1.17. Acte II: Chaconne

2.1. Acte III: Symphonie d'Ouverture

2.2. Acte III, Scène I: 'Ah! Je Dois Assurer Et Ma Vie Et L'Empire'

2.3. Acte III, Scène II: 'Objet D'une Implacable Haine'

2.4. Acte III, Scène III: 'David Peut-il Attendre Un Retour Favorable?'

2.5. Acte III: Gigue

2.6. Acte IV: Prélude

2.7. Acte IV, Scène I: 'Souverain Juge Des Mortels'

2.8. Acte IV, Scène II: 'Vous Me Fuyez'

2.9. Acte IV, Scène III: 'A-t-on Jamais Souffert Une Plus Rude Peine?'

2.10. Acte IV, Scène IV: 'Venez, Seigneur, Venez: Säul Va Vous Attendre'

2.11. Acte IV, Scène V: 'Enfin, Vous M'écoutez, Seigneur?'

2.12. Acte IV: Rigaudon

2.13. Acte IV: Bourrée

2.14. Acte V: Bruits d'Armes

2.15. Acte V, Scène I: 'Courez: Säul Attend Un Secours Nécessaire'

2.16. Acte V, Scène II: 'Que Vois-je? Quoi Je Perds Mon Fils & Mon Empire!'

2.17. Acte V, Scène III: 'Victoire! Victoire!'

2.18. Acte V, Scène IV: 'Qu'on Sauve Jonathas... Allez...'

2.19. Acte V, Scène V: 'Vois, Traître, Et Reconnais Ta Nouvelle Victime'

2.20. Acte V, Scène VI: 'Joignez À Vos Exploits L'Honneur Du Diadème'

2.21. Acte V: Chœur Des Triomphants

flac/16-bit

Georg Friedrich Händel - Agrippina

"In the summer of 1703 the eighteen-year-old Handel left his native Halle for Hamburg, where he found work at the Gansemarkt opera house, gradually rising through the ranks from back-desk violinist until his first opera, 'Almira', was premiered there in January 1705. Less than two months later, the Gansemarkt produced his second opera, 'Nero', the music for which is lost, though Friedrich Christian Feustking's libretto has a plot similar to that of Busenello's 'L'incoronazione di Poppea'. By mid-1706, having become increasingly fascinated by Italianate music, Handel resolved to travel to Italy at his own expense to develop his craft. By the end of the year he was in Rome, and was to spend the next three years in the Italian peninsula.

"He wrote an opera for the Teatro di via del Cocomero in Florence (Rodrigo, 30 October 1707) and a serenata for an aristocratic wedding celebration near Naples ('Aci, Galatea e Polifemo', on or around 19 July 1708), but seems to have passed most of his time in Rome, where he composed his first two oratorios 'Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno' (probably for its librettist Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili, in early 1707) and 'La Resurrezione' (for Marquis Francesco Maria Ruspoli, and performed on Easter Sunday, 1708) and spectacular church music composed between April and July 1707, including music for Vespers, Dixit Dominus and numerous Marian motets. He also wrote a large number of secular cantatas. The majority of these were intimate settings of Arcadian poetry for one singer with continuo accompaniment; a few were larger pastoral dramas, featuring several characters and imaginative use of small orchestras, and others were scaled somewhere in between; a few were intensely dramatic miniature tragedies. Although they date from Handel's entire period in Italy, most of these cantatas were composed in Rome for patrons who were leading lights of the Accademia degli Arcadi ('Arcadian Academy'), a group of literary, artistic, musical and aristocratic cognoscenti whose reformist ideas aimed to purify the corrupting indulgence of contemporary writing through the restoration of classical Greek simplicity.

"Having achieved as much as he could without converting to Roman Catholicism, it seems that Handel then resolved to seek a permanent position in suitably Protestant climes. In late 1709 he travelled north to Florence and then to Venice, where, according to his first biographer John Mainwaring (London, 1760), he was recognised whilst playing the harpsichord at a masked ball:

"'Being thus detected, he was strongly importuned to compose an Opera. But there was so little prospect of either honour or advantage from such an under-taking, that he was very unwilling to engage in it. At last, however, he consented, and in three weeks he finished his 'Agrippina', which was performed twenty-seven nights successively [...] The audience was so enchanted with this performance, that a stranger who should have seen the manner in which they were affected, would have imagined they had all been distracted.

"'The theatre, at almost every pause, resounded with shouts and acclamations of 'viva il caro Sassone!' and other expressions of approbation too extra-vagant to be mentioned. They were thunderstruck with the grandeur and sublimity of his style: for never had they known till then all the powers of harmony and modulation so closely arrayed, and so forcibly combined.'

"The exact dates of Agrippina's composition are unknown, but it was certainly written on Venetian paper with Handel's customary speed shortly before the first performance at the Teatro Grimani di San Giovanni Grisostomo in Venice on 26 December 1709, a couple of months before Handel's twenty-fifth birthday. The title-role was sung by Margherita Durastanti, who had begun her long association with Handel two years earlier in Rome; it is possible that she was replaced in some later performances by the Bolognese soprano Elena Croce Viviani. The cast also included Diamante Maria Scarabelli (Poppea, soprano), Valeriano Pellegrini (Nerone, soprano castrato), Antonio Francesco Carli (Claudio, bass), Francesca Vanini-Boschi (Ottone, contralto), her husband Giuseppe Boschi (Pallante, bass), Giuliano Albertini (Narciso, alto castrato) and Nicola Pasini (Lesbo, bass). The identity of the alto who sang the goddess Giunone in the opera's concluding Deus ex machina is unknown. On 11 February 1710, the London newspaper The Post-Boy reported the previous month's news from Venice:

"'Mr. Hendle's Opera, which is now performed at San Giovani Chrysostomo, is the best that ever was heard for the Musick; but the Words are but indifferent. Albino[n]i's Opera at San Cassan is also very well lik'd, both for the Words and Musick.'

"This is the only known contemporary reception of 'Agrippina'; it is also the earliest mention of Handel in an English newspaper — about eight months before he set first foot in the country that would eventually become his permanent home.

"Despite The Post-Boy's low opinion, the libretto is one of the finest that Handel set to music. Its author was almost certainly Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani (1652/5-1710), a member of the wealthy Venetian patrician family that had owned and run several of, the city's opera houses for two generations. His father Antonio and uncle Giovanni built and managed the Teatro SS Giovanni e Paolo (which opened in 1639), and in 1678 Vincenzo and his brother Giovanni Carlo inaugurated their magnificent new theatre just behind the church of San Giovanni Grisostomo, a tiny parish in the Cannaregio district not far from the Rialto (on the site of the present-day Teatro Malibran). By 1700 Venice had about sixteen opera houses, but San Giovanni Grisostomo was the largest: its stage had a particularly large proscenium and powerful stage machinery, and the auditorium was decorated with gilded boxwood reliefs and had five tiers of thirty-one boxes each, with another four on either side of the stage; including the parterre, its capacity is estimated to have been more than 1,400. It quickly established a reputation as Venice's foremost opera house, attracting the best singers and composers until well into the eighteenth century.

"At the time of Handel's arrival in Venice in late 1709, Giovanni Carlo Grimani's home was the regular meeting place of the local branch of the Arcadian Academy, so we can imagine a social connection occurring between the young Saxon visitor and the theatre's co-owner. Vincenzo Grimani had not let being ordained to the priesthood prevent him from writing the librettos 'Elmiro Re di Corinto' (set by Carlo Pallavicino for carnival, 1686/7) and 'Orazio' (set by Giuseppe Felice Tosi, 1687/8). It seems likely that his 'Agrippina' originated during the same period but was not used, perhaps because its author was banished from Venice in 1690 after the French complained about his overtly pro-Habsburg political sympathies when negotiating an alliance between the Duchy of Savoy and the Holy Roman Empire. Nevertheless, in 1697 Grimani was elevated to the rank of cardinal. Although pardoned by the Venetian Republic, he spent the remainder of his life working for the Habsburgs; on 1 July 1708 he took up his appointment as the Viceroy of Naples, where he might briefly have encountered Handel — although they had probably met in Rome in 1706-8, when Grimani was the Holy Roman Empire's representative to the Vatican. The cardinal was busy with official duties in Naples throughout the entire period of the commission, composition and performances of 'Agrippina', so it is unlikely that author and composer collaborated directly. An old spare text lying around from twenty years earlier was probably picked out for Handel, whose judicious self-borrowing from his own recent Roman and Neapolitan works (both music and words) suggests that it was refashioned for his purposes in collaboration with one or more unknown Venetian poets associated with the Grimani family's flagship theatre.

"The plot is drawn from the histories of Tacitus and Suetonius, and the drama is set in Rome, c.50 AD. The ambitious Julia Agrippina (fourth wife of the Emperor Claudius and sister of Caligula) schemes to put her son Nero (from a previous marriage to the consul Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus) on the throne. It is reported that Claudius has died in a shipwreck on his way back from an invasion of Britain. Having secured the loyalty of the influential and wealthy freedmen Marcus Antonius Pallas and Narcissus, Agrippina attempts to proclaim her son emperor - but is thwarted when news arrives that Claudius was rescued from drowning by Marcus Salvius Otho, whose reward is to be named the emperor's successor. Agrippina discredits Otho and deceives his lover Poppaca Sabina (who also fends off amorous attentions from Claudius and Nero), and when her increasingly desperate intrigues fail, she cunningly twists the truth to create an illusion of her political and emotional fidelity. Claudius reconfirms Otho as his heir and instructs Nero to marry Poppaca, but Otho renounces the throne rather than lose Poppaea— which suits Nero very well, and brings about the triumph of his devious mother. The goddess Juno descends to bless the marriage of Poppaca and Otho.

"Agrippina is a comedy of antiheroic characters with an unquenchable thirst for political and sexual power, whose amoral, corrupt and decadent intrigues are shown as intrinsic parts of everyday life among ancient Rome's ruling class. The pervasive tone of irony and humour in the subject matter is the natural by-product of a Venetian text much closer in spirit to the mischievous world view found in the operas of Cavalli and his successors than to the virtuous heroism and moral integrity championed by Apostolo Zeno, Pietro Pariati and Metastasio, the Arcadian-inspired librettists active in Venice during the first few decades of the eighteenth century. Beneath the satirical surface of Agrippina, Handel's inventive musical treatments and youthful playfulness bring to the fore an unusually wide range of emotions as his characters display by turns seductive charm, deceit, exasperation, naivety, despair, barely controlled lust, fury and gleeful one-upmanship, as well as genuine tenderness and sincere love (Poppea and Ottone are not yet the characters we find in 'L'incoronazione di Poppea', although Nerone is well on his way there).

"Handel's music vividly portrays this emotional roller coaster, notwithstanding the fact that about seventy-five per cent of the score was remodelled from works he had written in Italy over the previous three years. The opening section of the overture was adapted from the Marian motet 'Donna, che in ciel di tanta luce splendi' (probably performed in Rome on 2 February 1707). Narciso's enthusiastic reply to Agrippina's suggestive proposal in Act 1 Scene 5 ('Volo pronto', with chirpy recorders) was based on an aria from the continuo cantata L'ungi da me, pensier tiranno' (copied in August 1709 for Ruspoli in Rome). Pallante's amorous response to the same promise ('La mia sorte fortunata', I:3) was based on the jealous Polyphemus getting hot under the collar in the Neapolitan serenata 'Adi, Galatea e Polifemo', while an aria for the sea-nymph Galatea was the basis for Poppea's 'Vaghe perle', the delightful music refitted for our first encounter with the vain beauty, gleefully admiring herself in a mirror. Claudio's seductive 'Vieni, O cara' is refashioned from a slow moment in the soprano motet 'Saeviat tellus inter rigores' (probably for Carmelite vespers feasts in Rome, July 1707). From his first oratorio 'Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno', Handel reworked musical material for Ottone's lonely 'Vaghe fonti', the pastoral lament with bubbling recorders evoking fountains modelled after Disinganno's 'Crede l'uom', while 'Come nube che fugge dal vento' reapplied the malevolent fury of Piacere to the psychopathic Nerone revealing his true nature in a violent tantrum: scolded by his exasperated mother for ruining his chances of becoming emperor, Nerone declares that he will abandon any interest in Poppea - a protestation that we know from history to be untrue. Two bass arias from 'La Resurrezione' were adapted, one for Claudio's boast of being conqueror of the world ('Cade il mondo', based on Lucifer's claim to have defeated God in 'Caddi, è ver'), the second for Pallante's devious promise to fulfil his part in Agrippina's murderous plot ('Col raggio placido', based on Lucifer's infernal 'O voi dell'Erebo').

"Durastanti was given several arias based on music she had sung previously for Handel in Rome, most notably 'Ho un non so che nel cor' - Mary Magdalene's words and music from 'La Resurrezione' changed only slightly to transform joy at Christ's resurrection into Agrippina's encouragement to the anxious Poppea to carry out her instructions (I:18), Perhaps Durastanti had sung the earlier incarnation of 'Non ho cor che per amarti' (I:23) in the cantata 'Qual ti riveggio, oh Dio' (Rome, 1707), and she had certainly performed the original version of 'Ogni vento, ch'al porta'; the lilting Act 1 finale, where it appears that Agrippina has secured everything she desires, was based on the fickle Fillide's 'Fiamma bella che al ciel s'invia' from the pastoral cantata 'Arvesta il passo' (Rome, 1708). Moreover, Agrippina's final aria 'Se vuoi pace? (III:I4, in which she appears to offer calm counsel to her beleaguered husband) was based on an aria Durastanti had sung as the two-timing minx 'Chloris in Clori, Tirsi e Fileno' (Rome, 1707). Several of the arias in the opera recycled music from Roman cantatas that were initially constructed using borrowings from works by Reinhard Keiser, six of them from his Hamburg opera 'Octavia' (1705) in which Handel had probably played in the orchestra.

"Poppea's 'Se giunge un dispetto' (which concludes Act 1, at which point she believes Ottone has betrayed her) is based on an aria from 'Tis fedel? tn costante?', and Ottone's lament 'Voi che udite il mio lamento' (II:5) contains material adapted from 'Alpestre monte' — both cantatas that might have originated in Florence, c. 1706-7. Agrippina's soliloquy 'Pensieri, voi mi tormentate' (II:13), her most private moment in the opera and one that exposes her anxieties as she desperately plots a triple murder to cover her treason, is a transformation of a jagged musical idea for unison strings that Handel had initially utilised for the comparably worried eponymous anti-hero midway through Rodrigo ('Siete assai superbe, o stelle'); for Agrippina's show-stealing prayer to the gods to aid her intrigues, Handel added a tormented solo oboe part, reinvented the string parts and created a new and much tauter voice part.

"Handel's autograph lacks the overture and the first, folio of the opening scene, but contains a large amount of material that he cancelled, transferred or substituted during the compositional process. A neater performing score would have been prepared for use during the 1709/10 Venice carnival, but is now missing. However, it appears to have been copied in its entirety at two different stages of the original production's run of performances. Both of the early manuscript copies are written on Venetian paper-types of the right period and the first of these, now in the British Library, appears to have been made shortly before or soon after the premiere: it contains Agrippina's 'Se vuoi pace' in F major, in accordance with Handel's instruction in the autograph for it to be transposed up from E major, and confirms that the 'Deus ex machina' for Giunone was performed after the chorus 'Lieto il Tebro'. The second copy; now held in the Austrian National Library, was probably made after the end of the run of performances; by this time, Poppea's 'Ingannata una sol volta' (II:8) had been replaced by a new aria and the final scene for Giunone had been cut. Both copies confirm that Handel's original setting of 'Pensieri, voi mi tormentate' was replaced by a new version that was, recomposed, condensed and without the unexpected coda. This recording follows customary modern-day practice in preferring Handel's first and more complex version of the scene, Other differences between Handel's autograph and the first performance are preserved in the libretto printed by Marino Rossetti (Venice, 1709), which also clarifies scene headings, stage directions and numerous small points of spelling and text. The wordbook contains a list of stage settings that includes three ballets for Germans ('Di Tedeschi'), Gardeners ('Di Giardinier') and Knights and Ladies ('Di Cavalieri, e Dame'), but their positions are not cued cither in the libretto or in the musical sources and it cannot be assumed that the lost dance music was by Handel. Moreover, after Giunone's aria at the end of the opera, the wordbook prints 'Segue il Ballo di Deita seguaci di Giunone' (There follows a dance for deities, attendants of Juno), but no music for this is known.

"A new performing edition was prepared for this recording by Peter Jones and the present author. It predominantly reconstructs the text and music given at the first performance. This means that we have chosen the shorter middle section of Ottone's 'Lusinghiera mia speranza' (I:13) and the slightly shortened version of Claudio's 'Pur ritorno a rimirarvi' (I:21). Handel's extensively recomposed final version of 'Se giunge un dispetto' has only superficial similarities to the rejected first version usually heard on other recordings. This performance adopts the simplified second section of the chorus 'Di timpani e trombe' (II:3) and prefers Handel's second setting of Nerone's 'Sotto il lauro' (14) in B-flat major because it captures Nerone's sneering mockery of Ottone's misfortune more adroitly than Handel's rejected siciliano-like E minor first setting.

"'Bella pur nel mio diletto', an elaborate virtuoso aria for Poppea in Act II Scene 6, featuring two concertante oboes and fully scored for four-part strings, was never performed by Handel. It was replaced before the first performance with 'Spera, alma mia', an entirely different text printed in the 1709 wordbook but for which no music survives. Musicologists John H. Roberts and John E. Sawyer both point out that 'Spera, alma mia' is probably a parody text that perfectly fits a simple continuo aria borrowed from 'Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno' that Handel had already tried unsuccessfully to accommodate twice during the composition of Agrippina. It is recorded here in its proper context for the first time; its gentle intimacy conveys Poppea's sorrow and her uneasiness about Ottone's alleged guilt, and forms a more effective dramatic transition from Ottone's preceding soliloquy than 'Bella pur'. We have opted for the recomposed setting of Poppea's 'Ingannata una sol volta' (II:8), and Agrippina' 'Se vuoi pace' is given in its F major transposition.

"A small number of Handel's rejected ideas from his autograph have been reinstated. In addition to the first version of 'Pensicri, voi mi tormentate' we use the slightly more elaborate setting of Lesbo's arietta 'Allegrezzal!' (I:10), as he bursts in after the trumpet fanfare that heralds Claudio's safe return (the fanfare was probably improvised, but to announce the emperor's miraculous return from the grave we could not resist the mischievous appropriation of the trumpet parts from the Angel's proclamatory first aria in 'La Resurrezione'). We have reinstated a two-bar phrase that Handel deleted at the harmonically twisting climax of Ottone's suffering in 'Voi che udite il mio lamento' (on the phrase 'il mio dolor'), valuing the prolonged emotional tension it offers at the epicentre of the opera; having been unjustly scorned and abandoned by each of the characters in turn, Ottone expresses his misery echoed by a doleful oboe and the resolutions of chromatic clashing suspensions for the strings in F minor express pathos and catharsis.

"The final post-chorus scene for Giunone is included but does not form a suitable climax to the entertainment — so the 'Balli' for the followers of Juno are reconstructed using five dances selected from an orchestral suite now bound in Handel's autograph of 'Rodrigo'. Curiously, the entire overture-suite is on Venetian paper, whereas the rest of Rodrigo was written on Roman paper in advance of Handel travelling from Rome to Florence for the opera's production in autumn 1707. Perhaps these folios originated as ballet music in 'Agrippina'. We have sequenced a lively Gigue, an elegant Sarabande, an energetic Bourrée (that corresponds to Giunone's aria), a graceful Menuet (that has the same music as the chorus 'Lieto il Tebro'), and we conclude with an exquisite Passacaille.

"An aria for Poppea after the recitative in I:19, 'Fa' quanto vuoi', was cut before the first performance. Instead, the action proceeded directly into the following scene, leaving Poppea no time to question whether the devious Agrippina has told the truth about Ottone's betrayal before having to fend off the advances of Claudio. The little animated continuo aria (with closing ritornello for four-part strings) has often been restored to its envisaged context in modern productions and recordings; listeners can choose for themselves whether to reinstate it.

"The sincere love duet 'No, no, ch'io non apprezzo' for Poppea and Ottone originally ended II:10, a moment of calm and tenderness following the farcical storm of comings and goings in Poppea's bedroom. Handel adapted the duet from the Roman cantata 'Il duello amoroso' (August 1708), in which the frustrated Daliso and disinterested Amarilli express bitter cynicism about love. Almost identical musical material would have represented the exact opposite sentiment for Ottone and Poppea in Agrippina, but Handel discarded the duet and instead prepared two increasingly different and longer schemes for the scene before he or his singers were satisfied. If listeners want to reconstruct Handel's concise first plan for II:10, culminating in the two lovers joining blissfully together, their duet can replace Ottone's declaration of love in his exit aria 'Pur ch'io ti stringa al sen' (also adapted from 'Il duello amoroso') and Poppea's giddy expression of joy (the recitative 'Piega pur del mio cor' and aria 'Bel piacere'), before proceeding to Nerone complaining to his mother in III:I I. (David Vickers. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Il Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev, Joyce DiDonato, Franco Fagioli, Elsa Benoit, Luca Pisaroni, Jakub Józef Orliński, Andrea Mastroni, Carlo Vistoli, Biagio Pizzuti, Marie-Nicole Lemieux

1.1. Sinfonia

1.2. Atto I, Scena I: 'Nerone, Amato Figlio'

1.3. Atto I, Scena I: 'Col Saggio Tuo Consiglio'

1.4. Atto I, Scena II: 'Per Cosi Grand'impresa'

1.5. Atto I, Scena III: 'A' Cenni Tuoi Sovrani'

1.6. Atto I, Scena III: 'La Mia Sorte Fortunata'

1.7. Atto I, Scena IV: 'Or Che Pallante È Vinto'

1.8. Atto I, Scena V: 'Umile Alle Tue Piante'

1.9. Atto I, Scena V: 'Volo Pronto'

1.10. Atto I, Scena VI: 'Quanto Fa, Quanto Puote'

1.11. Atto I, Scena VI: 'L'alma Mia Fra Le Tempeste'

1.12. Atto I, Scena VII: 'Qual Piacer'

1.13. Atto I, Scena VII: 'Amici, Al Sen Vi Stringo'

1.14. Atto I, Scena VIII: 'Ecco Chi Presto'

1.15. Atto I, Scena IX: 'Voi, Che Dell'alta Roma'

1.16. Atto I, Scena IX: 'Il Tuo Figlio'/'La Tua Prole'

1.17. Atto I, Scena IX: 'Ma Qual Di Liete Trombe'

1.18. Atto I, Scena X: 'Allegrezza, Allegrezza!'

1.19. Atto I, Scena X: 'Che Sento!'

1.20. Atto I, Scena XI: 'Alle Tue Piante, O Augusta'

1.21. Atto I, Scena XII: 'Augusta, Amo Poppea'

1.22. Atto I, Scena XII: 'Tu Ben Degno'

1.23. Atto I, Scena XIII: 'L'ultima Del Gioir'

1.24. Atto I, Scena XIII: 'Lusinghiera Mia Speranza'

1.25. Atto I, Scena XIV: 'Vaghe Perle'

1.26. Atto I, Scena XIV: 'Otton, Claudio, Nerone'

1.27. Atto I, Scena XV: 'Signora, O Mia Signora!'

1.28. Atto I, Scena XVI: 'Di Lieta Nuova'

1.29. Atto I, Scena XVII: 'Perché Invece Di Claudio'

1.30. Atto I, Scena XVII: 'È Un Foco Quel D'amore'

1.31. Atto I, Scena XVIII: '(Ma Qui Agrippina Viene)'

1.32. Atto I, Scena XVIII: 'Ho Un Non So Che Nel Cor'

1.33. Atto I, Scena XIX: 'Cieli, Quai Strani Casi'

1.34. Atto I, Scena XX: 'Non Veggo Alcun'

1.35. Atto I, Scena XXI: 'Pur Ritorno A Rimirarvi'

1.36. Atto I, Scena XXI: 'Ma, O Ciel, Mesta E Confusa'

1.37. Atto I, Scena XXI: 'Vieni, O Cara'

1.38. Atto I, Scena XXI: '(Che Mai Farò?)'

1.39. Atto I, Scena XXII: 'Signor, Signor, Presto'

1.40. Atto I, Scena XXII: 'E Quando Mai / Quando Vorrai'

1.41. Atto I, Scena XXII: 'Pur Al Fin Se N'andò'

2.1. Atto I, Scena XXIII: 'O Mia Liberatrice'

2.2. Atto I, Scena XXIII: 'Non Ho Cor Che Per Amarti'

2.3. Atto I, Scena XXIV: 'Se Ottone M'ingannò'

2.4. Atto I, Scena XXIV: 'Se Giunge Un Dispetto'

2.5. Atto II, Scena I: 'Dunque Noi Siam Traditi'

2.6. Atto II, Scena II: 'Coronato Il Crin D'alloro'

2.7. Atto II, Scena II: 'Roma, Più Ch'il Trionfo'

2.8. Atto II, Scena III: Preludio

2.9. Atto II, Scena III: 'Ecco Il Superbo'

2.10. Atto II, Scena III: 'Di Timpani E Trombe'

2.11. Atto II, Scena IV: 'Nella Britannia Vinta'

2.12. Atto II, Scena IV: 'Cade Il Mondo'

2.13. Atto II, Scena IV: 'Signor, Quanto Il Mio Cuore'

2.14. Atto II, Scena IV: 'Nulla Sperar Da Me'

2.15. Atto II, Scena IV: 'E Tu Poppea'

2.16. Atto II, Scena IV: 'Tuo Ben È Il Trono'

2.17. Atto II, Scena IV: 'Soccorri Almen Nerone'

2.18. Atto II, Scena IV: 'Sotto Il Lauro'

2.19. Atto II, Scena IV: 'Scherzo Son'

2.20. Atto II, Scena V: 'Otton, Otton'

2.21. Atto II, Scena V: 'Voi Ch'udite'

2.22. Atto II, Scena VI: 'Spera, Alma Mia'

2.23. Atto II, Scena VI: 'Il Tormento D'Ottone'

2.24. Atto II, Scena VII: '(Par Che Amor Sia)'

2.25. Atto II, Scena VII: 'Vaghe Fonti'

2.26. Atto II, Scena VII: 'Ma Qui Che Veggo'

2.27. Atto II, Scena VII: 'Fantasme Della Mente'

2.28. Atto II, Scena VII: 'Ti Vuo' Giusta'

2.29. Atto II, Scena VIII: 'Da Quali Ordite Trame'

2.30. Atto II, Scena VIII: 'Ingannata Una Sol Volta'

2.31. Atto II, Scena IX: 'Pur Alfin Ti Ritrovo'

2.32. Atto II, Scena X: 'A Non Pochi Perigli'

2.33. Atto II, Scena XI: 'Son Qui, Mia Vita'

2.34. Atto II, Scena XI: 'Col Peso Del Tuo Amor'

2.35. Atto II, Scena XII: 'Qual Bramato Piacere'

2.36. Atto II, Scena XII: 'Quando Invita'

2.37. Atto II, Scena XIII: 'Pensieri, Voi Mi Tormentate'/'Quel Ch'oprai'

2.38. Atto II, Scena XIV: 'Se Ben Nemica Sorte'

2.39. Atto II, Scena XIV: 'Col Raggio Placido'

2.40. Atto II, Scena XV: 'Di Giunger Non Dispero'

2.41. Atto II, Scena XVI: 'Or È Tempo'

2.42. Atto II, Scena XVI: 'Spererò, Poiché Mel Dice'

3.1. Atto II, Scena XVII: 'Per Dar La Pace Al Core'

3.2. Atto II, Scena XVIII: 'A Vagheggiar Io Vengo'

3.3. Atto II, Scena XIX: 'Signor, Poppea'

3.4. Atto II, Scena XIX: 'Basta Che Sol Tu Chieda'

3.5. Atto II, Scena XX: 'Favorevol La Sorte'

3.6. Atto II, Scena XX: 'Ogni Vento'

3.7. Atto III, Scena I: 'Il Caro Otton'

3.8. Atto III, Scena II: 'Ah, Mia Poppea'

3.9. Atto III, Scena II: 'Tacerò'

3.10. Atto III, Scena III: 'Attendo Qui Nerone'

3.11. Atto III, Scena IV: 'Anelante Ti Reco'

3.12. Atto III, Scena IV: 'Coll'ardor Del Tuo Bel Core'

3.13. Atto III, Scena V: 'Amico Ciel'

3.14. Atto III, Scena VI: 'Qui Non V'è Alcun'

3.15. Atto III, Scena VII: 'Temerario Insolente'

3.16. Atto III, Scena VIII: 'Ora, Claudio, Che Dici?'

3.17. Atto III, Scena VIII: 'Io Di Roma'

3.18. Atto III, Scena IX: 'Pur Alfin Se N'andò'

3.19. Atto III, Scena X: 'Ora Ottone, Che Dici?'

3.20. Atto III, Scena X: 'Pur Ch'io Ti Stringa Al Sen'

3.21. Atto III, Scena X: 'Piega Pur Del Mio Cor'

3.22. Atto III, Scena X: 'Bel Piacere'

3.23. Atto III, Scena XI: 'Cotanto Osò Poppea?'

3.24. Atto III, Scena XI: 'Come Nube'

3.25. Atto III, Scena XII: 'Evvi Donna Più Empia?'

3.26. Atto III, Scena XIII: 'Agrippina, Nerone'

3.27. Atto III, Scena XIV: 'Adorato Mio Sposo'

3.28. Atto III, Scena XIV: 'Se Vuoi Pace'

3.29. Atto III, Scena XV: 'Ecco La Mia Rivale'

3.30. Atto III, Scena XV: 'Lieto Il Tebro'

3.31. Atto III, Scena XVI: 'D'Ottone E Di Poppea'

3.32. Atto III, Scena XVI: 'V'accendano Le Tede'

3.33. Atto Terzo, Balli: Gigue

3.34. Atto Terzo, Balli: Sarabande

3.35. Atto Terzo, Balli: Bourrée

3.36. Atto Terzo, Balli: Menuet

3.37. Atto Terzo, Balli: Passacaille

3.38. Appendix. Atto I, Scena XIX: 'Fa' Quanto Vuoi'

3.39. Appendix. Atto III, Scena X: 'No, No, Ch'io Non Apprezzo'

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Marc-Antoine Charpentier - Intermedes d'Andromede; Le Ballet de Polieucte

"In 1682 Comédie-Française mounted a full-scale revival of Pierre Cormeille's machine play 'Androméde' (1650), which had not been seen in Paris for 27 years. This revival coincided with the premiere of 'Persée' — Quinault and Lully's operatic version of the same myth — which had been playing at the Paris Opéra for three months (premiéred April 17).

"This spectacular 1682 production of 'Androméde' aimed to re-establish the pre-eminence of the Comédie-Frangaise in lyric theatre. Marc-Antoine Charpentier had been engaged to provide a new musical score, which included an overture, nine instrumental numbers, eight accompanied choruses, five vocal solos, and two sung duos. The cantata-like structuring of the choral and balletic interludes brought Corneille's machine play more in line with the aesthetic of opera. The original aerial flights and spectacular machine effects of Giacomo Torelli were re-created by Dufort, the resident machinist of the Comédie-Frangaise. This new production of 'Androméde' opened on 19 July 1682, and was given a total of 45 performances during the 1682-83 season. The review in the Mercure Galant singled out for praise the climactic battle scene with the sea monster, in which Pegasus, Perseus's flying horse, was played this time by a live horse. Because of Lully's restrictions on theatre music, which limited public theatres to only two singers, the singing roles and the chorus were taken by actors of the Comédie-Frangaise: Monsieurs de Villiers, Guérin, La Grange, Hubert, Verneuil, and Mademoiselles Dyot (perhaps Guyot?) and Hennebaut.

"Charpentier's incidental music for the machine play is remarkable for both its length and its high quality. The Prologue is set at the summit of Mount Pamassus, where Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy, meets with the Sun — who arrives after the overture in his blazing chariot. They praise the King, in whose honour the performance is being given, and the Sun invites Melpomene to join him in his chariot to proclaim the rare qualities of this youthful prince throughout the world in a single day. To the music of an instrumental prelude Melpomene flies up and takes her place next to him, and together they sing praises to the Sun King ('Cieux, écoutez; écoutez, mers profondes') — with which the chorus of shepherds joins in ('D'un héros qu'en tous lieux'). Then Melpomene and the Sun depart to a musical envoi in order to spread the news of Louis's fame to the rest of the universe.

"The first act takes place in Ethiopia, in the capital city of the kingdom of Cepheus. Cassiopeia, Andromeda's mother, is en route to the temple with Perseus to decide by casting lots which maiden is to be the next to be sacrificed to the sea-monster that is plaguing the land. The heavens open, and Venus appears on her star. The people sing her a hymn of praise ('Reine d'Erice et d'Amathonte') while Venus slowly descends. Cassiopeia bids the group be silent to hear Venus's prophesy: Andromeda is to be wed this evening, and the gods will join in the festivities. As Venus departs, the chorus sings a song of thanksgiving ('Ainsi toujours sur tes autels'). Phineus, Andromeda's cousin and fiancé, considers Venus's prophecy to be a good omen; Perseus, however, reveals his feelings for Andromeda to the Queen. An instrumental rondeau is played as an interlude while the scene changes.

"The second act is set in a luxurious garden with white marble vases, orange trees, and an arbour. Andromeda is gathering flowers with her nymphs to fashion a floral crown for Phineus. Meanwhile, one of his pages sings a song in anticipation of Phineus's arrival ('Qu'elle est lente, cette journée'). When Phineus arrives Andromeda in turn has Liriope, one of her ladies-in-waiting, sing a song for him ('Phinée est plus aimé qu'Androméde n'est belle'). Afterwards, the page and Liriope sing a musical dialogue, that concludes with the oracle delivered by Venus in Act 1: before the day is out, Andromeda will have married a man worthy of her. This refrain is taken up by the chorus, representing the followers of Phineus ('Joignons nos voix'). Then the King, accompanied by Perseus, suddenly arrives to announce that the lot has fallen upon Andromeda: she is to be the next sacrificial victim. Aeolus and his eight Winds descend to thunder and lightning, fly around above the stage, and carry away Andromeda in one of their clouds. Perseus, left alone with the King and his entourage, vows that he will rescue her. The instrumental air entitled 'The Winds' (which no doubt accompanied Andromeda's enlévement) is performed as an entr'acte.

"The scene changes in the third act to a barren landscape with high cliffs bordering the sea. Two Winds are seen tying Andromeda to the foot of a rock, while the chorus of Ethiopians looks on from the shore and sings a lament (Charpentier's music unfortunately has not survived). The Queen, in despair, vows to throw herself into the sea. The sea-monster approaches, but at that instant Perseus appears in the sky on his winged steed Pegasus. As the chorus urges the hero on in his battle Perseus slays the monster; he then frees Andromeda, and flies away on Pegasus. The Ethiopian people sing a chorus of victory ('Le monstre est mort, crions victoire') in which they acknowledge that Perseus, not Phineus, is the man worthy of Andromeda. The act closes with the arrival of Neptune, who rises from the depths of the sea in a sparkling mother-of-pearl conch shell drawn by two sea-horses. Neptune is incensed by Perseus's interference, and plots his revenge. The instrumental entr'acte that follows is a caprice — an Italianate capriccio comprising a succession of fugal sections in contrasting tempi.

"Act 4 takes place in the vestibule of a stately royal palace. Perseus declares his love for Andromeda, and then departs — lest she mistake feelings of gratitude for love. Andromeda reveals to her nymphs that her affection for Perseus is growing stronger, and she rejects Phineus when he arrives, explaining that if he could leave her to the monster before, he could now leave her to Perseus. Juno then appears in the sky in her chariot drawn by two peacocks, and promises to lend her support to Phineus. At the end of the act, the King and Queen have made ready their wedding preparations, and the chorus sings a wedding song ('Vivez, vivez, heureux amants'). Two airs are played during the interlude: an instrumental repeat of the preceding chorus, and an 'English gigue'.

"The final act is set in a bronze temple, where Phineus pleads with Andromeda for the last time. But when Andromeda and her mother both treat him with contempt he departs to take his revenge on Perseus. It is then reported that Perseus has used the head of Medusa to petrify Phineus and his warriors. Mercury arrives in the sky to announce the imminent arrival of his father Jupiter, and the chorus implores Jupiter to give Perseus and Andromeda his blessing ('Maître des Dieux, hâte-toi de paraître'). Jupiter descends from the sky on his gilded throne situated on a cloud, flanked by two other clouds bearing Juno and Neptune, who have been appeased by the sacrifices made by the lovers. Suspended mid-air on his throne, Jupiter declares that the marriage of Perseus and Andromeda must be celebrated among the gods. Perseus and Cepheus climb onto Juno's cloud, while Andromeda and Cassiopeia climb onto Neptune's, and to the slow and stately song of the chorus ('Allez, amants, allez sans jalousie') they ascend to the heavens to take their places amongst the stars.

"During the 17th century, annual theatrical productions became part of the academic fare of Jesuit colleges in France. Usually drawn from saintly and pious subjects, these student plays were accompanied by balletic interludes of song and dance on allegorical themes. For the Collége d'Harcourt, Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed such a ballet to accompany a production of Pierre Corneille's Christian tragedy 'Polyeucte Martyr'.

"Evidently Charpentier used some precomposed music for this event. His overture was originally composed for Moliére's comedy 'Le Dépit amoureux' — possibly for a given revival at the Comédie-Francaise on 11 July 1679.

"The title page of the composer's manuscript reads: 'Ouverture du prologue / ['du depit amoureux' is crossed out] de Polieucte pour le college d'Harcourt'. Evidently Charpentier added to it the twelve dances that would comprise what he referred to as 'le ballet de Polieucte'.

"Further light on this is shed by Paul Lacroix's catalogue of the 'Bibliothèque dramatique de Monsieur de Soleinne'. Here Lacroix lists a collection entitled 'Recueil de pieces dramatiques représentées dans les anciens colleges de Paris', containing a ballet entitled 'Le Combat de l'amour divin et de l'amour profane' that was performed at the Jesuit College d'Harcourt on 8 August 1680. According to the catalogue, the ballet was 'aprés Polyeucte, de Comeille'. Unfortunately this fivret has not survived, but it seems likely that Charpentier's allegorical dances made up the ballet that was danced for this performance. The titles of the individual movements suggest a spiritual struggle which is acted out in dance-pantomime: 'Profane Love, Games and Pleasures'; 'Pantomimes for the same [dancers]'; 'Sadness', 'Signs of Zeal'; 'Grace and the Virtues"; 'Desperation'; 'The Picklocks', "Noble and Base Feelings'; 'Cupid Blacksmiths', 'Triumphal March'; 'Joy Alone'; 'Combatants'. One dance carries the cue 'Why has the tender heart not returned?', thus translating the feelings expressed in a spoken passage." (John S. Powell. From the liner notes.)

Performers: New Chamber Opera, Gary Cooper, Rachel Elliott, James Gilchrist, Thomas Guthrie, Giles Underwood

1. Andromède: Ouverture

2. Andromède: Prélude Pendant Que Melpomene Vole Dans Le Char D’Apollon

3. Andromède: Récit D’Apollon 'Cieux, Ecoutez'

4. Andromède: Chœur De Bergers (Ensemble) 'D’un Héros Qu’en Tous Lieus A Suivi La Victoire'

5. Andromède: Prélude (Scène III)

6. Andromède: Chœur Des Suivants Du Roi Et De La Reine 'Reine D’Erice Et D’Amathonte'

7. Andromède: Replique De Choeur 'Ainsi Toujours Sur Tes Autels'

8. Andromède: Rondeau (Intermède Du Premier Au Second Acte)

9. Andromède: Petit Prélude De Caprice

10. Andromède: Air D’un De La Suite De Phinée 'Qu’elle Est Lente, Cette Journée'

11. Andromède: Air De Liriope 'Phinée Est Plus Aimé'

12. Andromède: Dialogue 'Heureux Amant!/Heureuse Amant!'

13. Andromède: Chœur De La Suitte De Phinée Et D’Andromède (Ensemble) 'Joignons Nos Voix'

14. Andromède: Dialogue 'Le Ciel Le Veut'

15. Andromède: Chœur De La Suitte De Phinée Et D’Andromède (Ensemble) 'Douce Union Que Chcun Doit Bénir!'

16. Andromède: Les Vents (Intermède Du Second Au Troisième Acte)

17. Andromède: Chœur D’Ethiopiens 'Le Monstre Est Mort'

18. Andromède: Un De La Suite Du Roy 'Quand Le Danger Presse'

19. Andromède: Duo 'Vous Êtes Sa Digne Conquête'

20. Andromède: Chœur D’Ethiopiens 'Le Monstre Est Mort'

21. Andromède: Caprice (Intermède Du 3ème Au 4ème Acte)

22. Andromède: Chœur De Peuple 'Vivez, Vivez, Heureux Amants'

23. Andromède: Premier Air (Intermède Du 4ème Au Cinquième Acte)

24. Andromède: Deuxieme Air — Gigue Angloise

25. Andromède: Chœur 'Maître Des Dieux, Hate-toi'

26. Andromède: Chœur 'Allez, Amants, Sans Jalousie'

27. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Overture

28. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Amours Profanes: Jeux Et Plaisirs

29. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Panthomimes Pour Les Mesmes; Inquietude; Attention Ou Aplaudissement; Tristesse

30. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Marquis De Zelle

31. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Les Graces Et Les Vertus

32. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Le Despespoir

33. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Les Crotcheteurs

34. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Sentiments Généreux Et Lasches

35. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Amours Forgerons

36. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Marche De Triomphe

37. Le Ballet De Polieucte: La Joye Seulle

38. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Pourquoi N'avoit Pas Le Coeur Tendre Retourné

39. Le Ballet De Polieucte: Combattants

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Nicola Porpora - Or Sì M'avveggio, Oh Amore: Cantatas for Soprano

"'I have been studying Handel and his era for more than two years; [...] to my great astonishment, I have observed the superiority of Porpora in respect of both grandeur of style and dramatic power.'

"This forceful statement, taken from a private letter which Romain Rolland sent to the Italian scholar Giuseppe Radiciotti around a century ago, displays an attitude verging on consternation at the unexpectedly high standard the Frenchman had discovered in the music of Nicola Porpora. Even today the Neapolitan composer remains completely unknown to the general public. In musicological circles, although his output has not yet been systematically studied, there is at least a general acknowledgment of his importance, and there has been some valuable research into specific aspects of his work. We have chosen to include on this CD cantatas that are not only of outstanding quality (and thus intrinsically deserving of revival), but which also convey the least monolithic view of Porpora's style. By representing the diversity of Porpora's music, we can do justice to some of the variables inevitable in the work of a prestigious composer: the tastes and demands of patrons, the historical moment at which his creative achievements took shape, and the natural and continuous transformation of his aesthetic philosophy over the course of time.

"The parallel often drawn between Handel and Porpora has long-established roots, and is closely connected with the two men's open rivalry on the London operatic scene. The Italian composer arrived on English soil between late summer and autumn 1733 at the invitation of the so-called Opera of the Nobility, for which he worked until its collapse in 1736–7. While it is true that the ferocious controversies arising from this rivalry have long clouded the image of Porpora with reductive, rough-and-ready judgements (he is often mentioned solely as Handel's 'opponent'), it did at least ensure, by acting as a stimulus to research now and then, that his name never entirely disappeared from music history books. In 1951, Frank Walker (a pioneer of Porpora studies) gave the first clearcut description of the composer's importance at the time of his arrival in London: 'When Porpora came to England in 1733, at the age of forty-seven, he had done more than pursue his own shadow. He had to his credit, after a quarter of a century's hard work, twenty-eight operas, three oratorios and a dramma sacro, six or seven serenatas and much church music.' Porpora was indeed one of the most sought-after composers in the celebrated theatres and principal musical establishments of the major European cities. Both before and after his sojourn in Britain he maintained a highly prestigious international career (divided between Naples, Venice, Dresden, Vienna, Turin, Rome, Milan, and so on), enjoying considerable influence on the contemporary musical scene and leaving a large number of excellent pupils (including Haydn, Farinelli, Caffarelli and Corri). One aspect of Porpora's work which Walker did not seem to hold in high esteem when writing his article (and he could hardly have done otherwise, since the fundamental thesis on the subject, by Everett Lavern Sutton, appeared only in 1974) was his significance as a composer of chamber cantatas, a repertory to which he made an abundant contribution in terms of both quantity (over 130 works) and quality.

"At the peak of Porpora's London popularity there appeared an extremely successful collection of twelve cantatas (for soprano or contralto with basso continuo or obbligato harpsichord, and in certain cases a concertante instrument as well) entitled 'Nuovamente composte opre di musica vocale' ('Newly composed works of vocal music'). Published in an elegant edition in 1735 (neatly and accurately printed, on high-quality paper and with ample margins), these exquisite pieces were subsequently to become, from the late eighteenth century to the end of the nineteenth, the principal yardstick for assessing the composer's style in dictionaries of music, along with the 'Sonate XII di violino e basso' ('Twelve sonatas for violin and bass'), the 'Sei duetti latini sulla Passione di Cristo' ('Six Latin duets on the Passion of Christ'), and a few sacred pieces. The high production costs of the publication were borne by Frederick, Prince of Wales, who evidently saw in this collection a fitting monument to his patronage: integrally planned and executed by a refined avant-garde composer of the calibre of Porpora, and setting unpublished texts by the greatest poet of the age (Metastasio), it epitomized the aesthetic aims which the prince championed in England in the realms of opera, poetry, and painting.

"The cantatas assembled in this volume clearly display the principal features of Porpora's compositional style at this stage in his career, notably his legendary melodic elegance, the remarkable fidelity of the music to the sentiments expressed in the text, and his skill in writing recitative, which was regarded as exemplary (more than one author described him as 'the father of recitative'). 'Già la notte s'avvicina (La pesca)' was included in this sumptuous publishing venture, and neatly illustrates all these stylistic features, as well as the unusual nature of the bass line in the pieces in the collection, which owes its exceptional cantabile quality to the fact that it was mostly conceived for the cello (an instrument of which the Prince of Wales was a creditable amateur exponent). Also connected to England, but for quite different reasons, is 'Or sì m'avveggio, oh Amore', whose forces include a concertante cello for the only time in Porpora's cantatas. This work has survived only because it is contained in a volume from the private collection of the London musician Benjamin Cooke (the younger), whose books were transferred in 1883 from the library of the Sacred Harmonic Society to constitute a substantial part of the collections of the newly founded Royal College of Music. How the piece came into Cooke's hands has still to be established, even though the use he made of it is obvious enough: well known at the time as an excellent teacher, he adapted it as a tool for his pupils to study continuo. The voracious but selective curiosity of this late eighteenth-century collector must have had no difficulty in finding compositions by Porpora on the market even years after he left England: works by the Neapolitan composer were still circulating and arousing the interest of British musicians (and would long continue to do so), and we know that precious manuscript copies passed through the hands of such personalities as William Savage, Richard Stevens and William Robinson. However, there is nothing to show that 'Or sì m'avveggio, oh Amore' was actually written in England. Stylistic analysis does not yield any elements that can help us to date it very precisely: we can do no more than assert that this cantata broadly corresponds to traits shown by the composer during his years in Naples in the 1720s and his London period of the mid-1730s, although it certainly dates from a few years before the publication of the 'Nuovamente composte opre di musica vocale' (1735).

"We can, however, be sure of the dating of the earliest cantata on this CD, 'Credimi pur che t'amo', completed in Rome (as is indicated by Porpora himself on his conducting score) on 4 July 1712. A constant exchange of composers and performers between Naples and the capital of the Papal States was the norm in the early eighteenth century: one need only think, for example, of the careers of Alessandro Scarlatti and Giovan Carlo Cailò and their respective influence on the Roman operatic scene and the Neapolitan string school. The young and promising Porpora must have quickly entered this virtuoso circle, assimilating the influences of the surroundings in which he found himself. Although the instrumental sections of this cantata are written in the style of the concerto grosso (with systematic alternation between soli and tutti), and while some passages in the vocal lines display a Scarlattian flavour, and the character of the recitatives and certain harmonic options immediately call to mind the Roman milieu, there are many elements which (even to a modern ear) evince considerable originality and powerful innovations. An example is found in the conclusion of the last movement of the opening Sinfonia. Such innovations would not have stood out so strongly in the artistic climate of Naples, where the far-reaching transformations of musical language that Porpora himself, Leo, Vinci and their contemporaries were shortly to export to the world were already being prepared and tried out.

"'Or che d'orrido Verno' is among Porpora's finest chamber cantatas. It cannot be securely dated, but may have been written when the composer was active in Naples or Venice (or perhaps even Dresden), between 1725 and 1730, or else in the late 1740s. The work features a twosection sinfonia (with no tempo marking) and assigns exceptionally brilliant roles to both the singer and the concertante flute. However, the demands on virtuoso technique do not overshadow the prominent, delicately handled echoes between voice, solo instrument and string accompaniment that characterize the writing (a typical trait of the composer, here illustrated in exemplary fashion in the sensual, poignant 'Lungi dal ben che s'ama'). Indeed, refinement, subtle interplay between the parts, and highly intensive (at times obsessive) exploitation of the thematic material were among the distinctive features of Porpora's output in general. These elements, combined with extremely rich melodic invention, a mastery of compositional technique, and a keen sense of theatre and dramatic pacing, marked him out for a successful career. Today, after centuries of neglect, all these characteristics surge from the pages of his scores with explosive force, showing how groundless are the widespread stereotypes which portray Porpora exclusively as a skilful purveyor of bravura arias for the use of his pupils. In the aesthetics of so profound and refined a musician, virtuosity was a means to an end: his requirement of an extremely high level of technique from performers was an instrument to enable him to obtain a seductive, spellbinding naturalness of style, necessary in its turn to create for the intellect and the senses a pleasure that would 'move the passions'." (Stefano Aresi, tr. Charles Johnston. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Auser Musici, Carlo Ipata, Elena Cecchi Fedi

1. Or Sì M'avveggio, Oh Amore: I. Or Sì M'avveggio, Oh Amore

2. Or Sì M'avveggio, Oh Amore: II. Dolce Pace, Lieta Calma

3. Or Sì M'avveggio, Oh Amore: III. Più Che Nel Ciel Tra' Numi

4. Or Sì M'avveggio, Oh Amore: IV. S'asconde Amor Nel Volto

5. Credimi Pur Che T'amo: I. Sinfonia. Presto

6. Credimi Pur Che T'amo: II. Sinfonia. Andante, E Spiritoso

7. Credimi Pur Che T'amo: III. Sinfonia. Allegro

8. Credimi Pur Che T'amo: IV. Credimi Pur Che T'amo

9. Credimi Pur Che T'amo: V. Sì, Sì, T'adoro Ma

10. Credimi Pur Che T'amo: VI. Sarò Pur Nell'amarti

11. Credimi Pur Che T'amo: VII. Amami E Non Languir

12. Già La Notte S'avvicina 'La Pesca': I. Già La Notte S'avvicina

13. Già La Notte S'avvicina 'La Pesca': II. Lascia Una Volta, Oh Nice

14. Già La Notte S'avvicina 'La Pesca': III. Non Più Fra Sassi Algosi

15. Or Che D'orrido Verno: I. Sinfonia. [Untitled]

16. Or Che D'orrido Verno: II. Sinfonia. [Untitled]

17. Or Che D'orrido Verno: III. Or Che D'orrido Verno

18. Or Che D'orrido Verno: IV. Lungi Dal Ben Che S'ama

19. Or Che D'orrido Verno: V. Pur Fra Tanta Mia Pena

20. Or Che D'orrido Verno: VI. Nocchier Che Mira

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