Tracklist English Français Italiano carlo vistoli talenti vulcanici stefano demicheli Testo / Text / Texte arias for nicolino handel pergolesi sarro scarlatti 2 Menu −Arias for Nicolino A 427 Handel Pergolesi Sarro Scarlatti George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) George Frideric Handel Rinaldo HWV 7a – London, 1711 Rinaldo HWV 7a 01. Prelude: Presto 0’57 Ouverture 02. Aria: Cara sposa, amante cara 8’59 11. Largo-Allegro 3’59 Atto I, scena 7 12. Largo 0’49 13. Gigue (Allegro) 1’12 Amadigi di Gaula HWV 11 – London, 1715 14. Recitativo: Tale stupor m’occupa i sensi, e tale 0’43 03. Sinfonia: Largo-Allegro 4’28 15. Aria: Cor ingrato, ti rammembri 3’04 Atto I, scena 6 Atto I, scena 8 04. Aria: T’amai, quant’il mio cor 4’23 Atto II, scena 3 Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) Il Cambise – Naples, 1719 Domenico Natale Sarro (1679-1744) 16. Aria: Quando vedrai 3’17 Arsace – Naples, 1718 Atto I, scena 9 Introduzione 17. Aria: Mi cinga la fama 2’47 05. – 1’31 Atto II, scena 9 06. – 0’31 07. – 1’21 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736) 08. Aria: Torno ai ceppi e vo incontro alla morte 2’14 Salustia – Naples, 1732 Atto II, scena 11 18. Aria: Al real piede ognora 6’29 09. Recitativo: Eccoti al fine, o Arsace 1’34 Atto I, scena 2 10. Aria: Se penso a Statira 4’46 19. Aria: Per trucidar la perfida 5’03 Atto I, scena 13 Atto I, scena 11 George Frideric Handel Rinaldo HWV 7a 20. Recitativo: Di speranza un bel raggio 0’22 21. Aria: Venti, turbini, prestate 3’47 Atto I, scena 9 Total time 62’26 3 Menu Carlo Vistoli —countertenor www.carlovistoli.com Talenti Vulcanici Stefano Demicheli —conductor www.dolcetempesta.com Elisa Citterio1, Mónika Tóth2, Chiara Arzenton, Heriberto Delgado, Enrico Gramigna, Alice Miniutti —violins Filippo Bergo, Lorenzo Giovannelli —violas Anna Camporini, Nazarena Ottaiano —cellos Fabio D’Onofrio3, Arianna Zambon —oboes Elena Bianchi3 —bassoon Giovanni Bellini —theorbo 1 leader in tr. 1-4, 8 and 11-21 Vanni Moretto —double bass 2 leader in tr. 5-7, 9-10 Stefano Demicheli, Rossella Policardo —harpsichords 3 also solo Instruments violins: Marcello Villa, Cremona 2005 (after Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Brescia 1615); Ignatius Ebayus, Bohemia c 1730; Anonymous, Germany c 1800; Gand, Paris 1889; Anonymous, Taiwan c 2007 (after Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Parma, c 1770); Anonymous, late 17th century violas: Richard Alexander, Fonte (Treviso) 2010; Anonymous, Germany c 1750 cellos: Anonymous, Beijing c 2005 (after Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Parma, c 1770); Joannes Georgius Staufer, Vienna 1838 oboes: Alberto Ponchio, Vicenza 2010 (after Thomas Stanesby, Londra 1720); Grazzi / Ceccolini, Roma c 2000 (after Thomas Stanesby, Londra 1720) bassoon: Laurent Verjat, Paris 1995 (after Prudent Thierriot, Paris c 1750) theorbo: Pascal Goldschmidt, San Casciano in Val di Pesa 1997 (after Matteo Sellas, Venezia c 1630) double bass: Anonymous, France late 19th century (restored by Luc Breton, Vaux-sur-Morges 1994-1995) Flemish harpsichord: François Paul Ciocca, Campobasso 2011 Italian harpsichord: Ugo Casiglia, Palermo 2002 (after Giovan Battista Giusti, Lucca 1681) Recorded 30 November – 4 December 2015 in the Chiesa della Missione ai Vergini in Naples, Italy. Sound engineer: Bruno Troisi. Producer and editing: Andrea Dandolo Coproduced by Fondazione Pietà de’ Turchini and Outhere Music France. ௚2017 / ©2017 Outhere Music France Carlo Vistoli 5 English Menu Nicola Grimaldi, known as Nicolino: a fashionable virtuoso An outstanding exponent of the late 17th – early 18th century vocal tradition, Nicola Grimaldi (Naples, 1673 – Naples, 1732) was one of the many of virtuosi who gradually helped change per- ceptions of the singing profession within an international framework. During this period the staging of musical productions underwent a major shift of focus, both in organizational terms and in artistic content, and Grimaldi took a tangibly active part in this transformation. As a boy Grimaldi had studied the art of singing at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini in Naples, and by the age of twelve was already performing as Armillo in the 1685 production of Provenzale’s opera Difendere l’offensore ovvero La Stellidaura vendicante at the Teatro dei Fiorentini. This endeavour brought him into direct contact with the dramatic skill and vision of Andrea Perrucci, the librettist. At the outset Grimaldi’s vocal range was that of a soprano, but in due course his voice settled in the contralto register, which implied various metamorphoses as regards roles and scores. At all events, his fame as a singer soon spread beyond national boundaries, bringing him widespread acclaim, especially in London. Grimaldi was initially involved with the companies that performed at the Teatro di San Bartolomeo in years that were crucial for the development of theatrical productions in Naples. He took part in operas of great impact, including works by Scarlatti such as La caduta dei decemviri (1697), on a libretto by Stampiglia. He also performed in operas that reconciled innovation with propaganda: for instance Luigi Manzo’s La Partenope (1699), a setting of another of Stampiglia’s librettos. Thereafter he began his peregrinations in “foreign” lands, meeting with enormous success in Venice, at the time a city of outstanding importance for musicians. In fact it was here that he was nominated knight of the Croce di San Marco for his performance in Gasparini’s Antioco. Grimaldi was also widely acclaimed by audiences in Bologna, Genoa and Parma before leaving for England in 1708. The four highly successful years he spent in London culminated in legendary performances of Handel’s Rinaldo, initially in 1711, with further productions in 1712, 1715 and 1717. The following year the opera was also successfully staged in Naples, with adaptations by Leonardo Leo. For Grimaldi, known as Nicolino and considered “the siren of our sirens”, many of the foremost 6 composers and librettists of the period wrote his time, helping shape the interpretation and special roles that brought out the extraordinary staging of operas by a wide range of compos- beauty of his voice. These included Stampiglia and ers, from Alessandro Scarlatti to Leonardo Metastasio, who managed to involve him in theatri- Leo, George Frideric Handel, Johann Adolf cal events alongside other great stars of the time, Hass, Giovanni Bononcini, Domenico Sarro, including Benti Bulgarelli, Broschi, Tesi, Cuzzoni Francesco Mancini and Nicola Porpora. He en- and Carestini. Apart from his great technical skill, joyed a huge following in England, and when Grimaldi was also endowed with remarkable sen- he left the country in 1712, he was described sitivity as an actor. This hugely endeared him to by Addison in the Spectator as “the greatest English audiences, who felt his performances gave Performer in Dramatic Music that is now living, “new dignity to Kings, new impetus to Heroes, and or that, perhaps, ever appeared upon a Stage”. new sweetness to Lovers”. — His gifts as an actor ensured that he still had Over the years, Alessandro Scarlatti and many engagements even when he was getting Grimaldi became close friends, and on 8 older and his voice had lost some of its earlier February 1719, during the Carnival, the singer brilliance. In the 1731-32 season, for instance, performed to great acclaim in Scarlatti’s opera the impresario Carlo Barone drew up a con- Il Cambise at the Teatro di San Bartolomeo in tract with him in which he stipulated that said Naples. The success of the production was Nicolino should “interpret the part of the first due “not only to the exquisite music, but also man in the operas performed at the Teatro di to the wealth and elegance of the costumes of San Bartolomeo”, such that in the summer of the lead singers, and the way Niccolò Grimaldi 1731 he sung the leading role in Leo’s Argene, led the performance”. As on other occasions, in October of the same year he performed in Nicolino was involved in the choice of cast Araja’s Semiramide riconosciuta, and later and the staging, engaging excellent singers on was supposed to take part in an opera by such as Marianna Benti Bulgarelli, known as la Pergolesi, who was a newcomer to the scene. Romanina, as the leading lady. This latter event never came about, however, Based on a libretto by Domenico Lalli, Il because the greatly admired singer died on 1 Cambise offered Grimaldi a title role that al- January 1732, much to the disappointment and lowed him to show off his extraordinary abilities grief of his fellow citizens. as an actor and singer. This is particularly evi- Nicola Grimaldi made a major impact on dent in the three-part aria “Quando vedrai”, an 7 English andante sciolto in which Cambise tries to sug- Frideric Handel’s Rinaldo got off to an awe- gest to Mirena that vendetta would be wrong. inspiring start, impressing the audiences with In the presence of the lifeless body, the hero is prodigious effects, including the release of little sure of the woman’s remorse. Repetition of the birds in the auditorium during Almirena’s aria verb /so / (I know) underlines his conviction that “Augelletti che cantate” and the arrival from she will ultimately regret the fate of the man she above of Armida’s chariot drawn by terrifying py- hated. Likewise highly effective are the slurring of rotechnical dragons. The sophisticated theatri- the vowels in the last syllable of lagnerai (you’re cal machines that accompanied the composer’s bound to rue), and the use of the ‘forte’ on the new production were particularly effective with word rigor. Once alone, Mirena nevertheless con- Grimaldi on stage in the role of Torquato Tasso’s firms that her heart will feel no pity for the rival.