Agostino Steffani: Alarico il Baltha

Luca Casagrande (Performer, Conductor), Agostino Steffani (Composer), Scarlatti Camera Ensemble (Performer), Lee Ji-Young (Performer), Stefania Maiardi (Performer), Maria Carla Curìa (Performer), Won Mi-Jung Capilupi (Performer), Guerino Pelaccia (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Luca Casagrande, Scarlatti Camera Ensemble, Lee Ji-Young, Stefania Maiardi, Maria Carla Cuŕa, et al.
• Conductor: Luca Casagrande
• Composer: Agostino Steffani
• Audio CD (April 28, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Concerto (Naxos)
• ASIN: B001U1L9ZI
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,680 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Ouverture

2. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Viva la Pace!

3. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Tra le Feste di Roma

4. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Scorso ha due volte il Sole

5. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Ferma ̣ bella

6. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 1. Di Placidia alle Stanze

See all 10 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Luci belle ben che nere

2. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Se Stilicon non erra

3. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. In Maschera di Pace

4. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Al regal Piede Ancella

5. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Temerari sciogliete coś vili Ritorte

6. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. Dove sei cara mia Speme?

See all 10 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 3. Ṿ Scherzando col Tormento

2. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 3. Pison che pensi?

3. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 3. Qui tra Cerere e Bacco

4. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 3. Sire! Che rechi?

5. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 3. Stilicon m'abbandoni

6. Alarico il Baltha, opera in 3 acts: Act 3. Gode Roma

See all 7 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Steffani deserves better than this, August 12, 2009

By 

Stephen Midgley (Tarbrax, West Calder, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Agostino Steffani: Alarico il Baltha (Audio CD)

Recordings of music by this outstanding and highly original baroque composer have been very thin on the ground, and it is only recently that the situation has begun to improve. In fact this same label has a fine recording of Steffani's "Sonate da Camera" and now, in addition to CDs of his glorious chamber duets, there are a couple of complete operas available with, I understand, more on the way.

Unfortunately this present set does not fit the bill at all. Agostino Steffani held prestigious musical posts at various times in his life at the courts of Munich, Hanover and Düsseldorf, and in performing his operas he was able to call on some of the finest singers of his day. As a result his vocal writing can be extremely demanding but, sadly, these demands prove to be well beyond the ability of most of the singers in this recording. Several of them do not sound at all at ease with this music and, what is more, the close, harsh recording does them no favours. Lee Ji-Young (mezzo) and Won Mi-Jung Capilupi (soprano) acquit themselves reasonably well, but the rest of the cast sound anything from mediocre to dreadful, lacking in style or feeling for the music of the period and often just plain out of tune.

The rather complicated plot involves love, lust, intrigue and betrayal, all set against the historical background of the sack of Rome by the Visigoths under their king Alaric I. Steffani's music is suitably dramatic, fascinating and original, and includes some short but effective instrumental movements which are well enough played here by the small chamber group. In fact, unlike the singers, the Scarlatti Camera Ensemble give a stylish and alert performance of their music, with lively contributions at times from trumpets and timpani, an able continuo section and some attractive scoring for a pair of recorders. But of course most of the music is for voices; many of the arias are accompanied by continuo alone, and because of the poor quality of the singing the majority of these are not a success at all. Not only are there a lot of rather unpleasant and unmusical sounds produced, but the overall impression is one of static, lifeless direction, without passion or involvement and with little sense of drama conveyed.

It was, or at least should have been, a highly worthwhile project to make one of Steffani's complete operas available to lovers of baroque music. But it was an ill-advised decision to do so without the outstanding director and cast of singers that the music requires - moreover, ones who would be fully conversant with baroque style and who could do justice to this lovely work. Sadly, then, in spite of its promising visual presentation, this set is a great disappointment and does a disservice to Steffani's music. And so it remains for other enterprising companies to bring us more from this wonderful composer.