Customer Reviews

Caldara - Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo / Kiehr, R. Dominguez, B. Fink, A. Scholl, Türk, Ulrich Messthaler · Jacobs

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Antonio Caldara, in this recently rediscovered church opéra, reaches a rare level of beauty and intensity. Beauty essentially due to the perfect blend and contrast between the various voices. The two alti and the two soprani are absolutely marvellous in their complementary values and hues, and they enhance the bass and the tenor in a unique way. Intensity due to the debate in Maddalena between carnal love and spiritual christian love. This debate is represented by the fight between the two alti, Amor Celeste and Amor Terreno, redoubled with the same debate between the two soprani, Maddalena and her sister Marta, and then amplified into a universal debate about the capabitily for women to repent, to amend and to be forgiven and saved. This debate is contained in the confrontation between the bass, the priest of the Temple, and the tenor, Christo himself representing the Church of Christ. This fascinating opera hence gets to a high level of modernity since the main question is that of the freedom and equality of women.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

The singing and playing on this CD are superb. But the potential buyer should be aware that although notes are provided, the text of the oratorio is not.

The most neglected masterpiece ever! As an example of Baroque religious music, I believe it surpasses Pergolesi's stabat mater, Vivaldi's Gloria, and Bach's cantatas. One beautiful aria follows another. It really is an embarassment of riches. It baffles me why this work is so little known. Perhaps Rene Jacobs flawless recording will change that. Incidentally, after I heard this I went out and bought 5 other Caldara CDs and while they all have their merits none of them came close to this one.