Customer Reviews

Marcello: Arianna

5 star:		(2)
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The intimate cast - (this "play for music" is for five voices only) - gives this work a sense of cohesion and warmth beautifully embellished by the fine arias and nicely worked recitatives. Like most operas of this period (early 1700s), "Arianna" does not include many ensemble pieces. There is only one duet and the occasional chorus - the majority of the work consists of one glorious aria following another. It's anything but boring, however. The music is very fine indeed, and this performance is lovely.

Of the performers, only Gloria Banditelli is likely to be previously known to listeners. The standard is, however, uniformly high. I enjoyed this recording immensely.

It's a world premiere recording - it always gives me a feeling of especial excitement when I hear something that has been recorded for the first time and left unperformed for centuries. It's like unearthing a great treasure.

The instrumental playing is also delightful - Academia de li Musici do a wonderful job of imparting a charming sense of liveliness and quite lovely lyricism with the music.

Highly recommended.

Benedetto Marcello was born in 1686, the year following the momentous birth year for J. S Bach, Handel and Domenico Scarlatti. I became interested in him because an article by a friend (Graham Pont) who is a Handel expert referred to Marcello's friendship with the young Handel when he was in Italy. Marcello was from the aristocracy, so that he was considered an "amateur" musician. But he is far better than many of the highly regarded professional musicians of his era. I was surprised by his extensive and varied discography and just how good his music is. His harpsichord works, church music and chamber music are equally outstanding. So is this opera. Some of the arias are reminiscent of Vivaldi (born 1678) and others sound like Handel (one cannot use the word reminiscent in this instance as Marcello and Handel were contemporaries - who influenced whom?). This is an opera with a succession of delightful arias, expertly performed and by a composer who deserves to be much better known.