Academia Montis Regalis, Alessandro De Marchi - Stradella: San Giovanni Battista (2008)

Tracklist

01. Sinfonia a 3 in A Minor, W-K30: I. [Untitled]
02. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 1, Sinfonia
03. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 2, Recit – Aria. Amiche selve – Deste un tempo (San Giovanni)
04. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 3, Recit – Coro – Recit. Selve beate – Dove, Battista? – Alla corte (San Giovanni/Coro di Discepoli)
05. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 4, Aria. Soffin pur, rabbiosi fremiti (San Giovanni)
06. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 5, Recit – Madrigale. Restate – Dove, Battista, dove? (San Giovanni/Coro di Discepoli)
07. Sinfonia in D Major
08. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 6, Recit. Invitto Herode (Consigliere)
09. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 7, Aria. Volin Pure lontano dal sen (Herodiade)
10. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 8, Recit – Aria. Sì, sì dei tuoi divoti – Anco in Cielo (Herodiade/Consigliere)
11. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 9, Recit. Ma poi lasciando (Consigliere)
12. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 10, Aria. Sorde dive (Salome)
13. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 11, Recit – Trio – Recit. Non più cedo – Non fia ver – Non più ferma (All)
14. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 12, Aria. Tuonerà tra mille turbini (Herode)
15. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 13, Aria/Quartet. S'uccida il reo (All)
16. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 14, Recit. Proverà se questo Scettro (Herode)
17. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 1: No. 15, Duet. Freni l'orgoglio (Herode/Salome)
18. Sinfonia a 3, W-K32: I. Adagio
19. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 1, Duet. Vaghe ninfe nel giordano (Salome)
20. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 2, Recit – Aria. Giorno sì lieto – Anco il sol (Consigliere)
21. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 3, Recit. O di questi occhi miei (Herode/Salome/San Giovanni)
22. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 4, Aria. Io per me non cangerei (San Giovanni)
23. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 5, Recit. Figlia, se un gran tesoro (Herodiade/Salome/Herode)
24. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 6, Duet. Nel seren de' miei contenti (Herode/Salome)
25. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 7, Recit. Deh, che più tardi a consolar (Salome)
26. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 8, Aria. Queste lagrime e sospiri (Salome)
27. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 9, Recit – Aria. In questa dei miei affetti – Provi pur le mie vendette (Herode)
28. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 10, Recit – Duet. Il castigo d'un empio – Morirai! Uccidetelo pur! (Herode/San Giovanni/Salome)
29. Sinfonia a 3, W-K32: II. Largo
30. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 11, Recit – Aria. Cadesti alfine – Sù coronatemi (Salome)
31. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 12, Recit. Chi nel comun gioire (Herode)
32. San Giovanni Battista, Pt. 2: No. 13, Duet. Che gioire, che contento (Salome/Herode)
33. Sinfonia a 3, W-K32: III. Allegro

Stradella was murdered in Genoa when he was forty-two years old. Until then he enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, collaborating with distinguished poets, producing over three hundred works in a variety of genres. His musical style is distinctive, characterized by fluid lines, great skill in counterpoint, and harmony which was tonal but which occasionally offers chords that were unusual then and striking even today.

The oratorio San Giovanni Battista was written for performance on Palm Sunday in the Holy Year of 1675 where some fourteen oratorios were commissioned by the confraternity of the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini in Rome—an auspicious event. San Giovanni Battista is a deeply ‘Baroque’ score, vibrant, rhythmically insistent, requiring singers to perform phrases of difficult fiorituras or deeply moving legato lines. The libretto is dramatic and emotionally vivid, and the music is closely tied to the text, creating a distinctly operatic atmosphere—described by the disc’s conductor Alessandro De Marchi as ‘a true Salome’.

Hyperion is delighted to announce a new recording relationship with Academia Montis Regalis, of which this disc is the first fruit. The group’s previous recordings on French label Opus 111 have won many international awards. The Academia Montis Regalis Foundation started its courses in Baroque and Classical orchestral training in the town of Mondovì in 1994. The aim was to offer young Italian and foreign musicians interested in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century repertoire the opportunity to engage in a unique experience. Thus was born the Academia Montis Regalis, a period instrument orchestra that has been regularly directed by leading international early music specialists since the year of its foundation, including Ton Koopman, Jordi Savall, Christopher Hogwood, Reinhardt Goebel and many others. The principal director has for some years been Alessandro De Marchi, who has overseen an important project with the Academia Montis Regalis, recording all of Vivaldi’s manuscripts preserved in the National Library of Turin. Right from the start the training programme was accompanied by highly successful concert performances. Today the orchestra is a professional ensemble with a solid international reputation.

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