Caldara / Schiavo / Stavanger Sym Orch / Biondi - Morte E Sepoltura 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. Du, Dessen Augen Flossen 2. Sein Odem Ist Schwach 3. Gethsemane! Gethsemane! 4. Du Held, Auf Den Die Köcher Des Todes Ausgeleert 5. Wen Hab' Ich Sonst Als Dich Allein 6. Ach Mein Immanuel! 7. Ein Gebet Um Neue Stärke 8. Nun Klingen Waffen 9. Ihr Weichgeschaffnen Seelen 10. Unsre Seele Ist Gebeuget Zu Der Erden 11. Ich Will Von Meiner Missetat Zum Herren Mich Bekehren 12. Jerusalem, Voll Mordlust, Ruft Mit Wildem Ton 13. So Stehet Ein Berg Gottes 14. Christus Hat Uns Ein Vorbild Gelassen 15. Ich Werde Dir Zu Ehren Alles Wagen 1. Da Steht Der Traurige, Verhaengnisvolle Pfahl 2. Feinde, Die Ihr Mich Betrübt 3. Wer Ist Der Heilige, Zum Muster Uns Verliehn? 4. Singt Dem Göttlichen Propheten 5. Freuet Euch Alle, Ihr Frommen 6. Wie Herrlich Ist Die Neue Welt 7. Auf Einmal FÄLLT Der Aufgehaltne Schmerz Es Helden Seele Wütend An 8. Es Steigen Seraphin Von Allen Sternen Nieder 9. Ihr Augen Weint 10. Hier Liegen Wir Gerührte Sünder

After the recordings dedicated to the rediscovery of Ulisse Matthey's works for organ and harmonium (Tactus tc 871390 and tc 871380), the Italian organist Fausto Caporali on this double CD plays the role of the composer. The recording project sees the collaboration of Italian and Spanish musicians with the involvement of the choirs of the cathedral of Malaga, of the famous «cantaor de Flamenco» Francisco Javier Sánchez Bandera (Bonela Hijo), and of musicians of the Cathedral of Cremona, among which the Caporali himself. The first CD is entirely dedicated to the Via Crucis, the re-enactment of the journey taking Jesus to the cross through the traditional fourteen stations, while the second CD contains two sacred cantatas dedicated to Saints Paola and Ciriaco, patron saints of Malaga, and to Santa Maria della Vittoria, also protector of the city since the conquest in 1487 by King Fernando the Catholic.