Filippo Mineccia, Raffaele Pe, La Venexiana & Claudio Cavina - A due alti (2017) [CD-Rip]

The title A due alti does not carry any metaphorical meaning, but simply means "for two altos": these are little Baroque chamber songs for a pair of altos and a good-sized continuo group. This repertory is almost completely unknown, but as august a personage as Handel took it up in Caro autor di mia doglia, HWV 182, and cared enough about that piece to go back and rework it years later (it is the later version that is heard here). Some of the other composers are all but unknown: have you heard music by Cristofaro Caresana? As it happens, his cantata gives the flavor of the whole: the texts are a bit arcane, philosophical, but often humorous: sample Caresana's Lamento degli occhi per non potersi vedere l'uno con l'altro, the lament of the eyes at not being able to see each other, with one singer representing each eye. These pieces represented sophisticated entertainment for connoisseurs, and they were opposite to the opera seria spectacles that ruled public entertainment in the early 18th century. Many other elegant small touches, such as the instrumental introductions to several pieces, are expertly realized by the historical performance group La Venexiana, whose members seem alert to the inventive ways large aria structures are being boiled down to these chamber conceptions, and Glossa's sound is excellent as usual. A recommended offbeat choice for lovers of Baroque vocal music. -- James Manheim