Bawdy, Silly, Trashy---- But It Works!
Bawdy, siily, trashy and a great deal of fun. That is what is in store for you when you view Il Giasone, the "smash hit" of Francisco Cavalli. The opera opened at the Teatro Cassiano on January 5, 1648 (=1649) in Venice and soon after was being played all over the rest of Italy. It was the most oftened played opera in the 17th century and became the symbol of Venetian decadence. It was however, a milestone in the development of the opera form as it saw the final separation of the aria and the recitative. The latter served for action and commentary and the aria served for formal song and intense reflection on events that have or may happen.
A few words on history will clarify this importance. As an art form, "opera" (initially called "favola") was invented by a committee in Florence, Italy about 1600(Dafne by Peri & Corsi 1598, mostly lost was the first opera)as a means to unify drama and music. The Humanist movement of the Renaissance thought that the Greeks had used a form of...
Jason & The Argonauts
For those who like (adore) Baroque scores, this one is a rare gem. The production is unusual and extremely suitable in spite of it's untraditional presentation. It works brilliantly. The singing is magnificant. The artists superb and really brought this acnient mythical piece to glowing life. Bravo. It's long; they used to do that back then. Entertainments went on and on. It was a more leasurely way of sampling all the complexities of emotional deapths sung with impossibly difficult artistry. This recording satisfys on all levels.
Great Cavalli Performance by Counter-Tenor Christophe Dumaux
Superior performance from counter-tenor Christophe Dumaux. I was not too familiar with Dumaux prior to purchasing this DVD. I was very pleasantly surprised...he has an excellent vocal quality and the acting was quite good too with just the right blend of humor and drama.
Click to Editorial Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment