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Serenissima

CD cover of The 1750 Project Serenissima Music in Venice in 1726

A Musical Portrait of Venice around 1726
Perrine Devillers (soprano), The 1750 Project
76:13
Ramée RAM 1902
Music by Porpora, Giuseppe Sammartini, D. Scarlatti & Vivaldi

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Explanation for the unusual name of the ensemble comes in the opening lines of the notes, where its leader, oboist Benoît Laurent, tells us that the declared objective of The 1750 Project is an exploration of a chosen city’s musical life in the period 1720 to 1750. So here they have commenced by landing in Venice around 1726. This is a time chosen to mark a change of style moving toward the Rococo, a development that in Venice doubtless gained particular impetus from the arrival in the Adriatic city in 1726 of the Neapolitan Nicola Porpora. His Ariana e Teseo, given at the San Giovanni Grisostomo theatre in 1727, was the third of a sequence of operas composed for Venice. ‘Pietosa Ciel difendimi’ is typical of the composer’s gracious, mellifluous style, an expansive cantabile aria with an elaborate oboe obbligato part in which the character (Carilda) asks for relief from the doubts about love that afflict her. It is sung with affecting freshness and elegance of line by the young French soprano Perrine Devillers, who needs only to articulate both musical embellishments and the Italian language with more depth and acuteness to become a truly outstanding singer. Devillers also sings a Porpora chamber cantata with continuo accompaniment cast in the form of a pair of arias with a central recitative, in the latter of which some of the key phrases (‘Ahi! Lasso!’) do indeed hint that Devillers has more to bring out as to the dramatic side of her singing.

The principal representative of the home team is unsurprisingly Vivaldi, who gets the lion’s share of a programme that includes two of his chamber cantatas, an oboe concerto and one of the so-called ‘Manchester’  violin sonatas. Both cantatas, ‘All’omba di sospetta’, RV 687, which has an obbligato part for flute, and ‘Che giova il sospirar’, RV 679 are also extremely well sung, the latter in particular being a fine work with, unusually, accompaniment for strings. It opens with an extended recitative bemoaning the pain inflicted by ‘cruel Irene’ that again provides Devillers with the opportunity to suggest a dramatic side to her singing yet to be fully developed. The splendid aria that follows is inflected with chromatic pain, while the fiery final aria takes a more rhetorical approach.

Arguably the most complete performance on the CD is that of the Violin Sonata in A, RV 758, which is played with outstanding technique and beautifully nuanced tone by Jacek Kurzydlo. Cast in four movements, it opens with a siciliana Prelude, taken perhaps marginally too slowly for a largo, but shaped so beautifully and with such exquisite nuance as to silence criticism. The following Corrente, nimble and spry, benefits from outstanding intonation, while the Andante’s double stopping introduces that elusive, folky element we sometimes find in Vivaldi, perhaps a dance heard in a distant calle.

The remaining works are also excellently done, the Vivaldi ‘Oboe’ Concerto in D minor, being a transcription of the ninth of the op. 8 violin concertos (Il Cimento dell’armonia e dell’invenzione), while Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonata in E, K. 162 plays with the contrasts between a thoughtful Andante that leads into a bright Allegro, in so doing creating a near mirror image between the two halves of its binary structure. Finally, Giuseppe Sammartini’s Oboe Sonata in C not only gives Laurent a further opportunity to demonstrate his prowess but also offers another example of more forward-looking trends, the tentative hesitancy of its central Andante lento providing the sonata’s most characterful moments.

The disc as whole makes for an extremely agreeable and well-contrasted program. With its highly accomplished playing and singing, it is the kind of concert that would send you away more than well satisfied were you fortunate enough to encounter it live.

Brian Robins

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Vivaldi: Argippo

CD cover Fabio Biondi directs Vivaldi's Argippo

Emőke Baráth Argippo, Marie Lys Osira, Delphine Galou Zanaida, Marianna Pizzolato Silvero, Luigi De Donato Tisifaro, Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi
123:00 (2 CDs in a jewel case with separate booklet, all in a card case)
naive OP 7079

Naïve’s attention to the operatic repertoire in its complete Vivaldi Edition is certainly not skimping. Here, following closely on the heels of an outstanding Tamerlano (Verona, 1735), a review of which appeared recently on EMR, is another pasticcio. Until recently, Argippo was considered to be lost, one of several operas from the early 1730s known only from a libretto housed in the University Library in Prague, where it was first given at the Teatro Sporck in 1730. A libretto for a slightly varied version of the opera given in Vienna, possibly earlier the same year, is also extant. Then, in 2011, an anonymous manuscript that can be linked to the opera was discovered in Darmstadt and it is this, alongside a collection of arias associated with the Vienna version, which formed the basis for the publication of the critical edition of the opera recorded here. Cast in the usual three acts, Argippo is a dramma per musica containing nine arias that can be attributed to Vivaldi. In addition, there are arias by his Venetian contemporaries G B Pescetti (4), A Galeazzi (a composer unknown to Grove Opera or any other authority I’ve consulted), the Milanese composer Andrea Fiorè, whose own setting of Argippo (Milan, 1722) is the source of Osira’s act 3 ‘Vado a morire’, one of the finest moments in the opera, and the better-known names of Hasse, Porpora and Vinci, each represented by a single aria.

The libretto was the work of Domenico Lalli, the poet who enjoyed the company of the composer D’Astorga during their adventurous travels through Europe during the second decade of the century (see the recent EMR review of D’Astorga sonatas and cantatas). It had first been set as Il gran mogol by Francesco Mancini for Naples in 1713, its exotic, colourful location in India conforming with the taste for opera seria to be given settings far removed from everyday life. The book is not exactly a masterpiece. It concerns Zanaida, the much-loved daughter of the Great Mogul, Tisifaro. She is convinced that she was seduced by Argippo, a tributary king, who married her, but then went off to commit bigamy with another princess, Osira. The opera revolves around a visit to Tisifaro by Argippo and Osira, during which it is revealed that Zanaida’s seducer was not Argippo but Tisifaro’s cousin and counsellor Silvero, this however not before poor Osira has been sentenced to death for her husband’s former ‘crime’. In a conclusion that defies all credibility, Zanaida agrees to marry Silvero, the man whose lust for her caused everyone else great distress.

It goes without saying there is no local colour and indeed for much of the first two acts there is little colour of any kind. An exception can be made for two arias for Zanaida, the first in act 1, ‘Se lento ancora in fulmine’ an aria di furia by Vivaldi, sung with glittering precision and fervent intensity by Delphine Galou, while ‘Che gran pena’ (act 2), a graciously melodic aria by Hasse, articulates the princess’s extreme conflicts of emotion. There is little doubt the impression made by these arias owes much to the dramatic commitment of the singer, whose work with her husband Ottavio Dantone has enabled Galou to attain new levels of excellence. Moreover, her delivery of plain recitative also stands out significantly from that of her colleagues. Among them, the Osira of soprano Marie Lys is a mixed success, infinitely touching and expressive in successive arias at the climax of the drama in act 3, but prone to brittle, razor-sharp brilliance in her upper range elsewhere. But she can be forgiven much for the lovely trill at the final cadence of ‘Vado a morir’. In any event, the sometimes wildly extravagant da capo excursions into the stratosphere are not unique to her. I wonder when singers will learn that such lapses of taste invariably end in tears, for the listener at least. Notwithstanding most of the singing is well above average, with some expectedly lovely cantabile from Emőke Baráth’s wronged Argippo and noble bass tone from Luigi De Donato’s suitably regal Tisifaro.

Fabio Biondi’s direction is efficient, but to my ears not particularly inspiring. As so often with him, mannerisms can be irritating, particularly his encouragement of a continuo lutenist whose hyperactivity consistently distracts attention from the voice. The sound also lacks the immediacy of other recent issues in this series. Those collecting the series can be assured of another set well worthy of investigating, but the uncommitted may find it a less appealing proposition

Brian Robins

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Bach: 6 Partitas

Asako Ogawa Bach partitas on harpsichord

Asako Ogawa harpsichord
150:31 (2 CDs in a card tryptych)
First Hand Records FHR92

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Asako Ogawa, an accomplished harpsichordist and accompanist, is based in the Guildhall, where her harpsichord teachers included Nicholas Parle (who produced this recording), James Johnstone and Laurence Cummings, with Steven Devine for fortepiano. As you may imagine with this pedigree, she plays elegantly on a harpsichord by Alan Gotto, 2009, after Jean Goermans/Pascal Taskin, 1764/1783, and writes her own intelligent liner notes on the Partitas and their place in Bach’s output. She recorded them in the Church of the Ascension, Plumstead this summer, so her calling card has been produced in time for pre-Christmas publicity.

I found her lyrical playing engaging from the start: the imitative writing in the opening Praeludium in the B-flat Partita is limpid and elegant on the upper 8’ and in this as in so many other movements you can sense the implied counterpoint. Her ornaments in the repeats are stylish and the choice of registration seems apt. It is certainly varied, and the contrast between the buff stop on the main 8’ she uses for the Minuet I in this Partita and the slightly thinner 8’ on the upper manual for Minuet II is telling. But it brings into stark relief an irritation that I find detracts from the admirable playing. That is the distinctly audible hard metallic chip on the d above middle C on the lower 8’ register, which is the major third in the opening this very key. Whether it might have been a particular trait of the acoustic or could have been solved by re-voicing that one note, I do not know. In general, I like a little individual character in the voicing of ranks (on organs as well as harpsichords), but this is obtrusive. No details are given about the temperament and tuning.

I looked for more details of Alan Gotto’s harpsichords on his website which has sound samples, and in many ways, the Goermans/Taskin double that Ogawa plays seems a good choice for this recording with a good French-style bloom in the middle register. The instrument sampled there certainly doesn’t have a wolf-note on that d, so this must be a peculiarity of that particular instrument, as can happen. In the very French Ouverture of the D major Partita (I.13), the merry clang of the full registration in the opening section certainly masks it and the fugato starts on the upper manual.

For her rhythmic control, listen to the elegant and only slightly inégale Courante in the 2nd Partita, and for contrapuntal clarity the Capriccio at the end of that suite. This is a capable and sensitive player who is intelligently inside the music, and quite capable of drawing us into it. I admire her playing and hope that it shines through the instrument’s infelicity to give her reputation the laurels her playing deserves.

David Stancliffe

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Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, volume 2

Bach Wohltemperierte Klavier 2 Steven Devine

Steven Devine harpsichord
148:45 (2 CDs in a single jewel case)
resonus RES10261

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As in Volume 1 that I reviewed for the EMR in July 2019, Steven Devine records Volume 2 of Das Wohltemperierte Klavier on Colin Booth’s 2000 harpsichord after a Johann Christoff Fleischer original (Hamburg 1710) that he tunes in a version of Kirkberger III, ‘gently modified so as to retain the key colours that make the harpsichord sing so much better, but eliminating any extreme dissonances’.

I have been waiting impatiently for Volume 2 to appear, as Das Wohltemperierte Klavier is for me a perfect accompaniment to the periods of lock-down we have experienced. Playing one of these highly individual and characterful pieces each day is a way of articulating the passage of time in a way that helps give shape and direction to life when other bearings fail. I said in reviewing the first volume that Devine’s ‘has a particular seemingly effortless grace, and it’s the one of all I’ve heard in the past ten years that I am happiest to live with.’ Volume 2 confirms this judgement, and the ‘effortless grace‘ – which of course is the result of much hard work and study, and is the very opposite to those recordings which make you sit up and take notice of the player’s ability (rather than the composer’s) – is just what I hope readers will want of a recording that they are going to live with. Clever and ‘original’ performances are fine in a concert hall where they can make us sit up and rethink our opinions. But that kind of attention-seeking playing time after time is wearisome. We need to remember that although Bach was a consummate composer, he was revered in his lifetime as a keyboard player, and with that went a lifetime’s experience as a teacher setting goals that would stretch his pupils’ capabilities as well as their imaginations. Stellar performances like this one come I suspect from those who are born teachers too: Devine’s pupils are hugely lucky.

Colin Booth’s harpsichord is never aggressive and I am hardly aware of the chosen registration, as it all seems so naturally right. Without knowing the original on which it is based, all I can say is that this instrument combines clarity with a degree of mellowness that makes the lines sing and gives a distinct aura, like the sympathetic strings of a Viola d’Amore. Prelude 18 in G# minor (CD 2, track 11) illustrates the registrational possibilities well – they are gentle and unobtrusive and don’t clamour for attention – and the listener looking to understand Devine’s subtle approach to rhythmic articulation should listen to the swinging inégales of the Prelude in D (CD 1, track 9) or to the Fugue in D minor (CD 1, track 12). His ornaments and passagework are equally unmechanical and have that degree of fluidity that shows how well he is in command of the music.

The distinctive tuning that results from Devine’s tweaking of Kirkberger III never makes me wince, but results in the sharp keys maintaining a pronounced distinction from the flat keys and while we shall never know with absolute certainty just how Johann Sebastian tuned his keyboards, this version certainly produces a distinctive sound in each key, one of the chief lacks in performances on pianos tuned in modern equal temperament. This time, Devine’s essay ponders the range of possibilities behind this second collection and its context, reflecting some of the more modern or Galant-leaning characteristics that herald the later classical Sonata form.

In spite of being recorded quite closely, the acoustics of St Mary’s Church, Birdsall in North Yorkshire create a wonderful aura of tonality for each piece – just listen to the harmonics hanging in the air between the end of the Prelude and the beginning of the Fugue in G (CD2, tracks 5-6). This is – and remains with the publication of Part 2 – my top choice for the 48.

David Stancliffe

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Cavalieri Imperiali

Lambert Colson CD cover of Cavalieri imperiali Cornetto virtuosi in Vienna

Zenobi & Sansoni, the great cornetto masters
InALTO, Lambert Colson
64:36
Ricercar RIC419

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This programme embraces imaginatively the actual musical commerce across the mountains between Northern Italy and the Hapsburg empire, personified by the two ennobled cornett players Zenobi and Sansoni. These late 16th-century “cavalieri di cornetto” were in high demand in both geographies and admired as much by their peers as by their employers. The all-instrumental programme starts bravely – and arrestingly – with a performance of the Lassus madrigalian motet Concupiscendo concupiscit anima mea. The marvellous expressiveness of the playing of such obviously text-coloured, highly-wrought phrases ironically leaves the listener slightly hungry for what’s missing. This bravery is nevertheless to be applauded, and the translation to instruments works without reservation in other pieces – particularly in the Luzzaschi which is the next example of this sort on the disc. Here the boot is on the other foot as it were, since, in the spectacular genre of musica secreta, voices were surely taking much inspiration from the instrumentalists of the time. After that arresting start using a full ensemble, the second piece is performed on solo cornett and harpsichord, thus bookending the scales of ensemble represented, and evoking the famous contemporary description of Zenobi:  accompanied by a closed-lidded harpsichord, and playing in perfect balance. The third piece finds us in the familiar territory of Castello, played with verve and in a more open acoustic than the previous “chamber” sound. The playing styles, the genres included, the mix of familiar and less familiar works, the changes in scale and acoustic are all extremely well thought through and beautifully rendered. The last genre to be encountered in the programme, and completing the set on offer, is the exuberant Weckmann-style Valentini, Schmelzer and Neri pieces with their heterogeneous mixes of instruments, bringing a new conversational element and extrovert performances to the mix. A tour de force.

Stephen Cassidy

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Handel: Organ Transcriptions by Walsh and Hook

CD cover Vebber plays transcriptions of Handel on the organ

Simone Vebber
54:04
La Bottega Discantica 314

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Transcriptions of Handel’s works for keyboard were intended to make his music widely available and were not made for recital purposes. Shorn of their original context they can seem like simple Gebrauchsmusik. While they do allow the listener to concentrate on Handel’s harmony and counterpoint, without the contrasts between solo and ripieno, or between different vocal groups, sequential repeats can get a bit wearisome. This selection includes two organ concertos, arranged by John Walsh, together with transcriptions by James Hook of two Coronation anthems, ‘Let Thy Hand Be strengthened’ and ‘The King Shall rejoice’. There are also successful arrangements of two choruses from Saul and Judas Maccabeus. Vebber plays on the organ in S. Maria Maddalena, Desenzano on Lake Garda. It includes some pipework from the church’s 17th-century organ by Matteo Cardinali, but was largely rebuilt in 1835-7 by the Serassi brothers. It provides a good range of contrasting stops though some of the big reeds tend to overpower and can sound anomalous, coming as a bit of shock when they substitute for the massed choir in the anthems. The accompanying booklet is in Italian only, and the website provides no translations or further information. Something of a curiosity, then, but the playing is rhythmically consistent, while maintaining good flexibility. The ‘Cuckoo and Nightingale’ concerto bristles with fun and, indeed, the whole recording exudes a strong sense of joie de vivre. Good for raising spirits in these trying times!

Noel O’Regan

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Froberger: Libro Secondo (1649)

Jean-Marc Aymes plays Froberger's 2nd book of pieces for keyboard


Jean-Marc Aymes
126:14 (2 CDs in a card triptych)
Lanvellec Editions LE00003

This is an impressive recording of the complete earliest surviving source for Froberger’s music.  The composer presented it to Emperor Ferdinand III in 1649 after spending much of the previous decade in Rome.  It contains fantasias, toccatas, canzonas and partitas; the first three genres show Italian influence, especially that of Frescobaldi, while the Partitas use the newer French grouping of dance movements.  Aymes adds two character pieces: the partita which starts with the Meditation on the composer’s own impending death of 1660, and the Tombeau for M. de Blancheroche.  Froberger’s music can seem straightforward on paper but we know that his last patron, the dowager Duchess Sibylla, felt that the true interpretation of the notes could only be discovered from the composer himself.  Aymer has clearly thought a lot about his own interpretations:  his playing is fluent and convincing, with a strong sense of forward momentum and good tempi.  He responds well to the variety of genres and moods found in the music.  Ornaments are well integrated into the playing and changes of metre are handled effectively.  He plays on three instruments:  copies of Italian and French 17th-century harpsichords by André Christophe and Tibaut de Tolose and, the real star of the show, an original 1653 organ by the English builder Robert Dallam, now in the church of Saint-Brandan in Lanvellec, Brittany.  Full-bodied and closely recorded, the organ serves the pieces played on it particularly well.  The meantone tuning is used to advantage in the elevation toccatas, as is that of the Italian (Gregori) copy in a few of the other pieces.  I would have liked to have heard more from this instrument (it is used on only four tracks) but the Jobin harpsichord copy works well for the partitas.  Recording quality of all three instruments is exemplary and the notes are informative.  Spread over two CDs, this recording gives the listener a full picture of the extent of Froberger’s achievements as a composer and is thoroughly recommended.

Noel O’Regan

 

 

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Haydn: Die Schöpfung

Antonini directs Haydn's Die Schöpfung as part of Haydn 2032

Anna Lucia Richter, Maximilian Schmitt, Florian Boesch, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini
Haydn 2032
100:08 (2 CDs in a card triptych)
Alpha Classics Alpha 567

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No one following Giovanni Antonini’s challenging on-going cycle of Haydn’s symphonies is likely to be surprised by this questioning, deeply moving and exhilarating performance of The Creation, recorded live in Munich in May 2019. At the outset, the Representation of Chaos is notable not only for its evocation of profound, unfathomable mystery – initially near inaudible – but on a musical level the ear is conscious of near-perfect orchestral balance. Grinding lower strings remind of an unruly cosmos in dire need of the sense of order finally achieved by the chorus’s monumental outburst ‘es ward Licht’ (there was light).

The whole of this vividly theatrical opening sequence sets the scene for what follows, a performance in which an outstanding solo trio, fully committed choral forces and magnificent orchestral playing coalesce to produce an utterly compelling experience. The ever-shifting focus is already apparent in Uriel’s ‘Nun schwanden’, a description of the order achieved on the first day, handled by Antonini with a delicious lightness of touch. We have moved in a trice to the world of Die Zauberflöte (which will return even more strikingly in Uriel’s ‘Aus Rosenwolken’ [In rosy mantle]) at the start of Part 3). Like all Uriel’s music, it is sung with real musical insight and keen attention to text by Maximillian Schmitt, a light lyric tenor with a fast vibrato that can occasionally be a little disconcerting. The descriptive narrative of the division of earth into land and sea, of winds, of storms, or rain, snow and ‘dreary wasteful hail’ falls largely to Raphael, the outstanding baritone Florian Boesch. As befits one of today’s leading Lieder singers, Boesch proves not only to be an outstanding storyteller but equally the possessor of a voice of real intrinsic beauty and variegated colour. To hear that at its most ravishing, it is necessary to turn only as far as the final lines of the aria ‘Rollen in schäumenden Wellen’ (Rolling in foaming billows), where Boesch’s exquisite mezza voce evokes the ‘soft purling’ of ‘limpid brooks’ in one of many magical moments. At the end of the wonderful mimetic accompanied recitative ‘Gleich öffnet’, his outstanding technique becomes merged with humour, with a firm and totally secure low G# as the worm traces its ‘sinuous way’, a moment that brings a barely registered but none the less audible smile from the Munich audience.

An equally beguiling touch of subtle vocal humour, this time tinged with irony, comes in Part 3 as Eve promises her Adam that ‘his will is law to her’.  Anna Lucia Richter is another of the glories of the performance, a soprano possessed not only of a voice that soars with glorious freedom and vernal freshness but owns to a complete technique in which embellishments, including a finely articulated trill, are perfectly turned and judged. Gabriel’s ‘Auf starken Fittige’ (On mighty pens’) is a joyously confident experience in which the tenderness of the second part of the aria is expressed with dewy-eyed sweetness, the singer happy to indulge the conductor’s playful bending of tempo. Like others of Antonini’s indulgences, it’s a dangerous moment, but it works. Yet moments later Antonini has captured all the dignified nobility of Raphael’s quotation of God’s words, ‘Be fruitful all, and multiply’, the momentous command underscored by imperious divided string basses.

It is that kind of all-encompassing performance. I have no idea whether Antonini is exercised by the naivety some perceive in The Creation. If he is, he doesn’t for one moment betray any such concern. It is his inspiring direction, his multi-faceted conception of a work that runs a gamut from ultimate grandeur to near child-like wonder, that has produced this spellbinding, life-enhancing testament.

Brian Robins         

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Pisendel: Neue Sonaten

Lupianez plays newly identified sonatas by Pisendel

Scaramuccia
59:14
Snakewood SCD202001

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Through the meticulous and studious investigation, plus careful comparative studies of some formerly unattributed violin sonatas from Dresden’s Schrank II, now found at the Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats -und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden, the astute director and violinist, Javier Lupiañez of Scaramuccia, has drawn on previously known works to build a convincing case for Pisendel’s authorship of these delightful “new sonatas”. The displays of ornamentation are drawn from those indicated by Pisendel, and Javier’s own inspired applications which seem perfectly placed within this frame. One can hear why Telemann was so enamoured by Pisendel’s obvious and fluent skills; indeed, I’d venture that emulation in some works by the former from the musical impetus of the latter’s abilities seem very clear. Excellent, too, to also have Telemann’s poetic memento mori (Published by J. A. Hiller, Leipzig 1766) reproduced in its original German (p. 14) with English translation (p. 18) from which we can glean a real personal sense of wonder and keen admiration: (3rd stanza) “Raised in Music’s bosom, surpassing great masters, and by quill, finger and bow, becoming their leader.” The fine 1682 violin (on loan) sails through these sprightly and wonderfully shaped sonatas with a blend of warm, melodious invention and applied virtuosity. A lovely, well-crafted yet anonymous D-major harpsichord sonata provides both a break and bridge before regaining the trail of these so-termed “Neue Sonaten” with the A-minor and concluding G-major works. The CD notes give some lucid insights into the approach to performance (p. 23). The final Allegro en Rondeau (Track 20) had in the draft manuscript ten different themes by Pisendel! The cadenza just before the last theme in the first movement of the A-minor piece is original Pisendel.

This is a fine new “clutch” of pieces by the Dresden-based master, displaying his own prowess and engaging style which encompasses that high-flown Italianate and a warm lyricism, the latter most often found in the heartfelt, slower movements. When baroque music is so convincingly and attractively presented it is hard to resist the charms and delights which begin with the booklet cover details of the delicate Chinese porcelain designs for a service made in the 1730s for the Dresden ruler. Images of dragon and phoenix together were traditionally used at marriages; here the marriage of Scaramuccia and Pisendel, a felicitous meeting worthy of attention and sincere accolades.

David Bellinger

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D’Astorga & Lalli: Cantatas · Sonatas

Les Abbagliati perform chamber music by D'Astorga and Lalli

Les Abbagliati
58:56
Ramée RAM1907
+G. Bononcini, Handel, Vivaldi

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The notes for this issue (by Ronan Kernoa, the cellist of the Belgian ensemble Les Abbagliata) open with a bizarre hypothetical account of an evening meeting in June 1731 of Bologna’s famous Accademia degli Invaghiti. Involved are Handel, the librettist Domenico Lalli and latter’s friend the Sicilian-born Baron d’Astorga (Gioacchino Cesare Rincòn), diplomat and composer. Given that Handel was in London in the summer of 1731 – he was involved with the revival of Acis and Galatea – that Lalli was at the time in the service of the Elector of Bavaria and that d’Astorga’s whereabouts at the time are unknown, the conceit seems rather pointlessly far-fetched, serving no purpose other than that of linking D’Astorga and Lalli to Handel.

Lalli and d’Astorga, exiled from Sicily in 1711, had met in Rome, thereafter pursuing flamboyant (and flamboyantly exaggerated) adventures across Italy and Spain. Whether or not Lalli was the author of the texts of the two cantatas by D’Astorga included here is unclear, though given their friendship it must be a reasonable supposition.  Both follow the format of alternation of aria and recitative while conforming to the expected pastoral take on topics relating to the vicissitudes of love. Neither strike me as especially memorable, rather confirming Burney’s view that the cantatas of D’Astorga that he’d encountered, ‘did not fulfil the expectations excited by his high character and the composition of his elegant and refined Stabat Mater’ (D’Astorga’s best-known work). Certainly they fail to match the melodic invention or charm of Bononcini’s ‘Sento dentro del petto’, the third cantata on the CD, which is occupied with happier aspects of love. All three cantatas come from a volume found in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. They are sung by Les Abbagliati’s soprano Soetkin Elbers with warmth and a winning freshness. However although it is evident she has taken care with the texts, Elbers’s Italian enunciation is not sufficiently clearly articulated to point them in the way a native Italian might have been expected to do. Her ornamentation is discreet to the point of reticence and embellishments are too often tentatively approached.

The instrumental works further the tenuous connections the CD is so keen to cultivate in that they are by composers that all set librettos of Lalli, though in the case of Handel’s four-movement Concerto a quattro in D minor there is a rival bid for authorship in the shape of Telemann (TWV 43/d3). Scored for flute, violin, cello and harpsichord, it’s an agreeable work with a spirited final Allegro that would steer me toward putting my money on Telemann. After an over-deliberate opening Adagio with heavily accentuated rhythms, the performance is fine. Indisputable Handel comes in the shape of his Trio Sonata in D minor (HWV 386b), a splendid work made memorable by its exquisitely lovely Largo (iii) based on an aria of Keiser’s. Again the opening Andante comes across as a little studied, but otherwise the performance is well-balanced and capably played, as are the briefer offerings by Vivaldi, Handel and Alessandro Scarlatti.

Brian Robins