Alessandro Scarlatti composed more than 800 cantatas,
so it is little wonder that these four for soprano voice, two violins and basso
continuo receive their first recordings. Three of them appear to have Roman
origins. Nella stagione appunto recounts Eurillo’s passion for Clori as he veers
between hopelessness and lovelorn bliss, comparing himself to Phaeton’s doom and
fantasising that her hand has stolen its whiteness from the Milky Way. The
pessimistic Nella tomba di Gnido narrates that the ashes of crushed love have
been found by Cupid in a grave in the ancient Anatolian city Knidos. Both of
these probably date from the early 1690s, when their poet Francesco Maria Paglia
and Scarlatti both associated with the Duke of Medinaceli, the Spanish
ambassador to Rome. Giulia Giovani’s useful essay speculates that they could
have been intended for the duke’s favourite soprano (and mistress) Angela
Giorgina, who followed him scandalously when he became viceroy of Naples. On the
other hand, Mentre un Zeffiro arguto survives in a manuscript copied in 1693 for
Cardinal Ottoboni (vice-chancellor of the church and Corelli’s patron); it is a
complaint about the severity of falling head over heels for the unsympathetic
siren Filli.
Preserved in a copy at Montecassino, Prima d’esservi infedele was probably
composed some time before 1702. There is attractive fluidity in Clori’s
roller-coaster adamance that her love is steadfast. Several arias eschew da capo
form, for example ‘Se la sorte avesse in seno’, which starts with doleful
contrapuntal violins and lamentation and ends with a frenzied vision of drinking
poison to prove her fidelity. Quartetto Vanvitelli, expanded by the addition of
a second violinst, play with rhetorical vivacity; there is contoured fantasy
from fiddlers Gian Andrea Guerra and Lena Yokoyama, and attentive interplay from
cellist Nicola Brovelli, archlutenist Mauro Pinciaroli and keyboardist Luigi
Accardo. Valeria La Grotta’s purling musicality, precise agility in quick
passages and articulate poeticism are matched by musicological inquisitiveness –
she edited the performance material from manuscript sources.
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