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Reviewer: Bertil
van Boer
When is an opera not an opera?
The answer to this rhetorical question here is that this opera by Francesco
Cavalli entitled The Miracle of Love (to give it its English title) doesn’t
really exist. Instead, it is a compilation of bits drawn from various
Cavalli works that refer to the subject, linked in such a way by the editor,
Jesús Fernández Baena, that they form a story of sorts. I would be quite
hesitant to be convinced of the title, but I suppose the artists have to
have some reason for defining this disc. That being said, we have a fair
amount of Cavalli’s operas in hand in decent performances, but this sort of
excerpt anthology both shows off the voices of the two principals, soprano
Raquel Andueza and countertenor Xavier Sabata, along with the rather adroit
accompaniment of La Galania, a Spanish period instrument group. The first number, after which the title is taken, comes from the Prologue to L’ormindo of 1644, in which the fact that love awakens suddenly is eye-opening. The sequencing, even of the coloratura, in strophic form is like a graceful dance. From Giasone of a couple of years later, both Medea and Jason express their burning desire for each other in a duet that is often conversational, but joins in a sonorous declaration. His plaintive and emotional “Delizie, contenti” from the same work relies upon subtle mezza di voce interpolations that suspend the dance-like triple motion. Later, the lovers part in a suspensive and even mournful duet above a ground, something that may sound in a pinch like Henry Purcell. From L’Erismena comes an urgent lament, commanding and emotionally powerful above a ground bass that is quite insistent. Of course, the recording includes the famed “Dolcissimi baci” from La Calisto, here sung in a slower and more deliberate tempo, almost as if in reminiscence rather than excitement (as I’ve heard it before). The duet slowly unfolds gently and sweetly, like slow-motion flowers, and when the text speaks of joy the dynamics increase in an exuberant shout. The final song, “Io t’abbraccio” from Pompeo magno, one of the last works Cavalli wrote, has an insistent chaconne bass, above which the voices engage in a lilting duet. The crescendo in the continuo group is deliberate, growing in intensity, dialing back whenever the sections warrant. It dies away like a subtle breath.
The
performance by both Andueza and Sabata is uniformly excellent, spot on pitch
and with some lovely vocal interaction that meshes their timbres well. The
tempos are flexible and done according to the text, though there is always a
basic foundation with the grounds that Cavalli is fond of using, and the
various ritornellos by the violins (mainly) are discrete and complementary.
In short, this may not be a real opera, but the program works well. This is
one disc well worth obtaining for its passion and musical excellence. | |
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