Contraltos GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL 1685–1759 Tamerlano HWV 18 (Act I, Scene 8) Libretto: Nicola Francesco Haym & Agostino Piovene 1 “Dal crudel che m’ha tradita” Irene: LA DOTTI 3.14 NICOLA PORPORA 1686–1768 Meride e Selinunte (Act II, Scene 13) Libretto: Apostolo Zeno 2 “Torbido intorno al core” Ericlea: LA D’AMBREVILLE-PERRONI 7.49 GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL 3 Ariodante HWV 33: Overture to Act II Polinesso: LA NEGRI 1.46 Rinaldo HWV 7 (Act II, Scene 3) Libretto: Aaron Hill & Giacomo Rossi 4 “Mio cor, che mi sai dir?” Goffredo: LA VANINI-BOSCHI 2.55 ANTONIO VIVALDI 1678–1741 Tito Manlio RV 738 (Act I, Scene 10) Libretto: Matteo Noris 5 “Di verde ulivo” Vitellia: LA MUCCI 6.07 Alice Coquart cello solo Il Farnace RV 711 (Pavia, 1731) (Act II, Scene 6) Insertion aria: Pietro Metastasio (Siroe, re di Persia) 6 “Gelido in ogni vena” Farnace: LA PIERI 9.30 GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL 7 Berenice HWV 38: Sinfonia to Act III Selene: LA BERTOLLI · Arsace: LA NEGRI 2.49 NICOLA PORPORA Semiramide riconosciuta (Naples, 1739) (Act II, Scene 12) Libretto: Pietro Metastasio 8 “Tradita, sprezzata” Semiramide: LA TESI 3.32 GIOVANNI BONONCINI 1670–1747 Griselda (Act II, Scene 10) Libretto: Apostolo Zeno, after Boccaccio’s Decameron, rev. Paolo Antonio Rolli 9 “Caro Addio, dal labbro amato” Griselda: LA ROBINSON 5.53 ANTONIO LOTTI 1667–1740 10 Alessandro Severo: Sinfonia (Act III, Final Scene) Albina: LA VICO 1.06 GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Arminio HWV 36 (Act I, Scene 6) Libretto: after Antonio Salvi 11 “Sento il cor per ogni lato” Ramise: LA BERTOLLI 2.50 ANTONIO CALDARA 1670–1736 Euristeo (Act III, Scene 1) Libretto: Apostolo Zeno 12 “Sotto un faggio o lungo un rio” Erginda: LA STARHEMBERG 8.52 ANTONIO VIVALDI Bajazet RV 703 (Act III, Scene 14) Libretto: Agostino Piovene 13 Recitativo accompagnato: “È morto, sì, tiranno”… 1.35 14 Aria: “Svena, uccidi, abbatti, atterra” Asteria: LA GIRÒ 2.09 NICOLA PORPORA Statira (Act I, Scene 13) Libretto: Carlo Goldoni, after Francesco Silvani 15 “Mira d’entrambi il ciglio” Statira: LA TESI 4.52 GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Amadigi di Gaula HWV 11: Overture Dardano: LA VICO 16 II. Gavotta 1.20 FRANCESCO GASPARINI 1661–1727 La fede tradita e vendicata (Naples, 1707) (Act II, Scene 13) Libretto: Francesco Silvani 17 “Empia mano” Ernelinda: LA MARCHESINI 5.55 GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Sosarme, re di Media HWV 30 (Act II, Scene 12) Libretto: after Antonio Salvi (Dionisio, re di Portogallo) 18 “Vado, vado al campo” Erenice: LA BAGNOLESI 2.28 ANTONIO VIVALDI L’incoronazione di Dario RV 719: Sinfonia in C Argene: LA FABRI · Statira: LA DOTTI 19 I. Allegro 2.27 20 II. Andante e pianissimo 1.47 21 III. Presto 0.34 BONUS TRACKS ANTONIO VIVALDI Ginevra, principessa di Scozia RV 716 (Act II, Scene 9) Libretto: Antonio Salvi 22 “Degli Elisi dal soggiorno” Lurcanio: LA BISAGI 4.03 ANTONIO LOTTI Alessandro severo: Sinfonia (Overture) Albina: LA VICO 23 I. Allegro [4/4] 1.29 24 II. [3/2] 1.39 25 III. Presto [3/8] 1.09 GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Berenice HWV 38: Overture Selene: LA BERTOLLI · Arsace: LA NEGRI 26 III. Andante larghetto 1.40 Rinaldo HWV 7 (Act III, Scene 4) 27 “Sorge nel petto” Goffredo: LA VANINI-BOSCHI 4.29 94.07 world-premiere recordings (9, 10, 12, 15, 17, 22–25) NATHALIE STUTZMANN contralto · conductor ORFEO 55 CONTRALTOS Italian opera composers and audiences in the 18th century were reputedly obsessed with the high voice: while castrati dominated the male roles (with most operas also including a tenor, representing an older male character), the bass voice, the virtuosity of which had been celebrated in previous centuries, was now scorned in Italian opera seria. (Instead, the bass made his mark in the 18th century in opera buffa.) Female sopranos also commonly created the women’s roles. That liking for the high voice was nuanced, however: because composers created their music around the abilities of individual singers, not around particular voice types, singers similarly felt no need to sculpt their voice to fit particular ranges – roles originally taken by singers we would consider contraltos might subsequently be sung by those whom we would characterise as mezzo-sopranos. The term “contralto” was, in any case, first applied not to women but to castrati, to distinguish those with lower voices from “alti naturali” falsettists. Application of the term to women only developed later in the 18th century, while the “mezzo-soprano” designation was created in the 19th century. Although designations for women may not have been as clear cut as for men in this period, there was a positive corollary: while there was a broad expectation that a type of voice would accompany a type of role and a certain status for men (typically the young heroes were taken by castrati, while the older, kingly men were tenors), that expectation did not apply in the same way for women. Indeed, throughout the century women with lower voices (as well as those with high) found success in a range of roles and found favour with audiences, with some serving as muses to the composers with whom they worked. One such was Anna Girò who, having made her stage debut aged 13 or 14, studied under and sang for Vivaldi from the age of about 16 in 1726 until her retirement from the stage some 20 years later, creating leading (mostly prima donna) roles in over 30 of his productions. Perhaps surprisingly to us, but seemingly not unusually for the voice type, Girò was no virtuosa; she was instead known for her acting ability, the value of which is evident in the climactic final aria “Svena, uccidi, abbatti, atterra” from the 1735 Bajazet, in which the princess Asteria demands that the emperor Tamerlane kills her, following the defiant suicide of her father, Bajazet. Vivaldi’s readiness to see Girò as his leading singer may have derived from his encounters with other low-voiced women, and most particularly the Florentine contralto Maria Maddalena Pieri, who sang alongside Girò in many of Vivaldi’s operas in what has been described as a “collaborative rivalry”. With a vocal style often as active and forceful as Girò’s, but apparently with a wider range (as the atmospheric “Gelido in ogni vena” demonstrates), she seems to have specialised in male roles, such as the title roles in Vivaldi’s Farnace (1726) and Bajazet (1735). 5 This ability to act either female or male roles for those with a forceful vocal style may, indeed, have made lower- voiced women particularly attractive for composers. Anna Maria Fabbri created male and female roles equally in operas across Italy in the 1710s–20s, including in the premieres of Vivaldi’s Orlando finto pazzo (1714) and Arsilda regina di Ponto (1716), in both of which she played a woman disguised as a man; and L’incoronazione di Dario (1717), in which she took the role of scheming princess Argene. In the following decades, Vittoria Tesi, whom J.J. Quantz later characterised as “a contralto of masculine strength”, with a wide vocal range, demonstrated similar variety in her roles. Nicola Porpora gave her the (female) title role in his 1739 setting of Metastasio’s Semiramide riconosciuta for Naples. That she may, nonetheless, have been a better actress than a singer is suggested by the relative lack of virtuosity in “Tradita, sprezzata”, her expression of emotional turmoil as she is confronted by her former lover (and attempted murderer) Scitalce. Taking the title role again in Porpora’s Statira of 1742 for Venice, her “Mira d’entrambi il ciglio” shows similar qualities. Away from Italy, with its abundance of castrati, Italian opera companies had still more reason to hire versatile female performers. The contralto Francesca Vanini-Boschi created two male roles for Handel, Ottone in Agrippina in Rome (1709) and Goffredo in Rinaldo in London (1711). Although her voice was in decline by this stage, “Mio cor, che mi sai dir?”, expressing resolution in the face of Rinaldo’s apparent abandonment of the cause, still shows her technical capabilities. Anna Vincenza Dotti, who sang Irene in Handel’s Tamerlano (1724) and Eduige in Rodelinda (1724), also often played male roles – though in Handel’s operas she seemingly took such roles only as she was demoted after the arrival of Faustina Bordoni. Irene’s aggrieved “Dal crudel che m’ha tradita” displays Dotti’s abilities as well as her relatively limited range. Succeeding Dotti and Bordoni in trouser roles was Francesca Bertolli, whom Handel hired in 1729, and who was employed by one or other London company until 1737. Though lacking in great vocal qualities, Bertolli was, according to one of Handel’s supporters, “a perfect beauty, quite a Cleopatra”; despite her looks (or perhaps because of them, if she had a fine figure as well as a beautiful face), she specialised in men’s roles, taking parts such as Armindo in Partenope (1730) and Medoro in Orlando (1733). “Sento il cor per ogni lato”, which demonstrates a vigorous style but limited range and virtuosity, is for Ramise, sister to the hero in Arminio (1737), and expresses her distress at a threat to his life. Anna Maria Antonia Bagnolesi, another contralto who visited British shores in the early 1730s, also sang both male and female roles, creating for Handel the roles of Valentiniano in Ezio (1732) and Erenice in Sosarme (1732); her “Vado, vado al campo” in the latter, shows typical energy but a narrow range and lack of virtuosity. Bagnolesi was described by a waspish London opera-goer as seeming when singing like “a person talking upon a close stool” (that is, the toilet).