April 2, 2012 | Review on Gramophone

Premiere recordings aplenty
in Di Lisa's Scarlatti Project

by David Vickers

The 350th anniversary of Alessandro Scarlatti’s birth fell in 2010 but did not receive the fuss that one of the most fascinating ltalian Baroque composers deserves. His operas are particularly neglected but Daniela Barcellona and Concerto de’ Cavalieri go some way towards remedying this situation. Director Marcello Di Lisa has chosen a fascinating programme of sinfonias and arias from Scarlatti’s six last extant serious operas (1716-21), written for the Teatro San Bartolomeo in Naples (Tigrane, Carlo re d'Allemagna and Cambise) and for Rome’s Teatro Capranica (Telemaco, Marco Attilio Regolo and Griselda).

Most are unpublished and have been edited from manuscript sources; 20 pieces receive world premiere recordings. Mario Marcarini’s erudite booklet-note is all too brief and, although the disc contains a PDF of another short note by Di Lisa and all of the sung texts, Sony’s presentation of information is haphazard and inconvenient to use.

The music, however, offers plenty of enrichment. Scarlatti’s concise yet detailed arias make an impressive impact. Concerto de’ Cavalieri’s zesty strings and Andrea di Mario’s vibrant trumpet obbligato provide a dynamic springboard for Barcellona to launch into ‘Voglio a terra’ (the villain Amilcare’s outburst at imprisoning the tide-hero in Marco Attilio Regolo) and her coloratura passages are thrilling in ‘Vendetta, vendetta’ (an enraged trumpet aria sung by Sicoreo, the offended brother of the nymph Calypso in Telemaco). Pairs of oboes, trumpets and violins sparkle in the fine sinfonia to Griselda; Barcellona’s singing and sweet string ritornellos evoke the soft breeze and sensual yearning in Lotario’s ‘Aure voi che sussurrando’ (Carlo re d'Allemagna), and dissimilar love arias for different characters in Tigrane are performed superbly (the intimate ‘Ma qual cor’ and obsessively passionate ‘Un solo sospiro’).
Serious Baroque opera lovers should devour this greedily."
David Vickers