Philippe Jaroussky – Ombra mai fu – Francesco Cavalli Opera Arias (2019) [FLAC 24bit/96kHz]

Although Francesco Cavalli’s twenty-seven operas that still exist today have increasingly become part of the world’s opera repertoire, there was a time when the works of this flamboyant composer had completely fell into obscurity. As they were not published like those of his master Monteverdi, Cavalli’s works remained as (often incomplete) manuscripts and were painstakingly reconstituted for a modern edition. By the end of the 1960s, Raymond Leppard and musicologist Alan Curtis set out to resuscitate this forgotten music through memorable stage performances at Glyndebourne Festival, featuring a brilliant casting of some of the greatest voices of the time: Janet Baker, Ileana Cotrubas, James Bowman and Hugues Cuenod. The staging and sound restitution were particularly extravagant, and audiences discovered − in both an album and a filmed performance − an incredibly varied music characterised by constant gender swapping and triumphant eroticism, in often uproarious situations! This extraordinary sensory exaltation, from tragedy to parody, is expertly expressed by Philippe Jaroussky – a countertenor very familiar with Cavalli’s work − on this album made up of around twenty extracts that perfectly encapsulate the Venetian public’s expectations. Around him, the voices of soprano Emöke Baráth and contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux give rise to a few delightful duos. – François Hudry

Tracklist:
1. Cavalli: Il Xerse, Act 1: “Ombra mai fu” (Xerse)
2. Cavalli: Statira, principessa di Persia, Act 2: “All’armi, mio core” (Brimonte)
3. Cavalli: L’Erismena, Act 2: “Dove mi conducete? … ” (Idraspe)
4. Cavalli: L’Erismena, Act 2: “Uscitemi dal cor, lacrime amare” (Idraspe)
5. Cavalli: La Calisto, Act 1: “Interprete mal buona… L’uomo è una dolce cosa” (Linfea)
6. Cavalli: La Calisto, Act 1: “Ninfa bella” (Il Satirino, Linfea)
7. Cavalli: Eliogabalo, Act 1: Sinfonia
8. Cavalli: Elena, Act 3: “Ecco l’idolo mio … Mio diletto, mio sospiro” (Menelao, Elena)
9. Cavalli: Ercole amante, Act 1: Sinfonia
10. Cavalli: Eliogabalo, Act 1: “Io resto solo? … Misero, così va” (Alessandro)
11. Cavalli: L’Ormindo, Act 2: “Che città” (Nerillo)
12. Cavalli: Gli amori d’Apollo e di Dafne, Act 3: “Ohimé, che miro?” (Apollo)
13. Cavalli: Gli amori d’Apollo e di Dafne, Act 3: “Misero Apollo” (Apollo)
14. Cavalli: L’Orione: Sinfonia
15. Cavalli: Eritrea, Act 1: “O luci belle” (Laodicea, Theramene)
16. Cavalli: Il Giasone, Act 1: “Delizie, contenti” (Giasone)
17. Cavalli: Doriclea: Sinfonia
18. Cavalli: La Calisto, Act 2: “Erme, e solinghe cime … Lucidissima face” (Endimione)
19. Cavalli: La virtù de’ strali d’Amore, Act 2: “Alcun più di me felice non è” (Clarindo)
20. Cavalli: Pompeo Magno, Act 2: “Cieche tenebre” (Sesto)
21. Cavalli: Il Xerse, Act 2: “La bellezza è un don fugace” (Eumene)
22. Cavalli: La virtù de’ strali d’Amore, Act 1: “Il diletto interrotto … ” (Erino)
23. Cavalli: La virtù de’ strali d’Amore, Act 1: “Desia la verginella” (Erino)
24. Cavalli: La virtù de’ strali d’Amore, Act 3: “Che pensi, mio core?” (Amore)