Caldara / Banquet Celeste / Guillon - Maddalena Ai Piedi Di Christo - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Born in Venice around 1670, Caldara gave Barcelona the first opera ever heard in Catalonia, Il più bel nome (1708), commissioned by his patron, the future Emperor Charles VI, before eventually settling in Vienna in the latter's service in 1716. A prolific composer with three thousand works to his credit, Caldara died in the Austrian capital in 1736 - in the Kärtnerstrasse, like Vivaldi five years later, and in a similar state of destitution. The genre, born in the wake of the Counter-Reformation and illustrated notably by the Roman composers Carissimi and Landi, was initially sung in Latin and performed in pious confraternities. But La Maddalena is an oratorio volgare, that is, sung in Italian. The protagonists of La Maddalena, six in number, are split between Earth and Heaven. They are Martha, Mary Magdalene and a Pharisee on the one hand; Jesus, Earthly Love and Divine Love on the other. They divide among them thirty-three arias and ensembles, in a sequence alternating recitative and aria. Album Tracks 1. Maddalena Ai Piedi Di Cristo Oratorio À 6, Con Sinfonia 2. Prima Parte 3. Sinfonia 4. Aria InchDormi, O Cara, E Formi Il SonnoInch (Amor Terreno) 5. Recitativo InchCosì Godea la MenteInch (Amor Terreno) 6. Ritornell - Aria InchDeh LibrateInch (Amor Terreno) 7. Recitativo InchDel Sonno LusinghieroInch (Amor Terreno, Amor Celeste) 8. Aria InchLa Ragione, S'un Alma Conseglia (Amore Celeste) 9. Recitativo InchCosì Sciolta Da' LacciInch (Amor Terreno, Amor Celeste) 10. Duo InchAlle Vittorie Del Celeste/Terreno Amore Duo (Amor Terreno, Amor Celeste) 11. Recitativo InchOimè, Troppo ImportunoInch (Maddalena) 12. Ritornello - Aria InchIn Un Bivio È Il Mio VolereInch (Maddalena) 13. Recitativo InchMaddalena, Nel Cielo (Maddalena) 14. Ritornello - Aria InchSpera, ConsolatiInch (Amor Celeste) 15. Recitativo InchTroppo Dura È la LeggeInch (Amor