Notes and Editorial Reviews
IL CANTO DELLA SIRENA: Neapolitan Cantatas of the Baroque Era
•
Pino de Vittorio (t); Antonio Florio, dir; Roberta Invernizzi, Antonella Ippolito, Roberta Andalò (s); Daniela del Monaco (a); Rosario Totaro (t); I Turchini
•
GLOSSA 922603 (3 CDs: 211:43
Text and Translation)
Selections by
ANONYMOUS, TRICARICO, PROVENZALE, SABINO, A. SCARLATTI, RUBINO, FAGO, FAGGIOLI, MANELLI, G. GRECO, COPPOLA, NETTI, COYA, MARCHITELLI, VINCI, DURANTE
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Is this a reissue? These recordings were made between 1991 and 1996 in Naples and Bologna. Glossa’s own website welcomes conductor Antonio Florio as a new artist in the Glossa “family” while stating, “We are delighted to be bringing back into circulation some of those earlier groundbreaking recordings” without giving a previous label or number. Neither Amazon nor ArkivMusic lists the album as of December 3, 2011. One wonders why recordings of this obviously high quality and energy languished so long unreissued, as they are obviously unique in their field.
Ostensibly, these are 17th-century Neapolitan cantatas, intermixed with harpsichord sinfonias and toccatas, but most of the music is of an extraordinary rhythmic vitality, immediacy of communication, and emotional commitment that nearly contradict their “historically informed” status. Yes, the strings play with straight tone and the harpsichord used is an early model with little power, but the vocalism heard here—particularly from tenor Pino de Vittorio, of whom I’ve never heard before—is simply extraordinary. De Vittorio sings in an emotionally direct, semi-parlando style that is closer to Italian folk music than to classical traditions, yet one recalls that in the 17th century there
was
no such thing, yet, as a “classical tradition,” that most of the singers these composers used came from church choirs or popular street singers. The opening
Tarantella del Gargano
by an anonymous composer, accompanied by a guitar and sung in excitable fashion by de Vittorio, could easily pass for an early predecessor of
Vieni sul mar
or
La campana di San Giusto
, and de Vittorio’s wild interpretation of Michelangelo Faggioli’s
Stò paglietta presentuoso
, an almost folk song in the style of
Riù, riù chiù
about a presumptuous lawyer, “stiff as a ramrod,” who “talks on and on, boasting, worse than Methuselah,” is about as funny a piece of music as you will ever hear out of the Baroque era.
But de Vittorio’s bright, sunny voice and semi-parlando style also enliven the more formal music heard here. In CD 2, his singing is alternated with other singers who are not quite his equal in patter or energy but still Italianate-sounding and less dull than their German or British counterparts. In brief, this set is a reminder that this music was sung by Italians, not by Brits or Germans, and that the Italian manner of singing is and has always been different from those other traditions. And yes, there are several cantatas here in the style of that famous Mantuan, Claudio Monteverdi, particularly those of Francesco Provenzale, such as
Gionto il fatal di
, but as already mentioned, the performances even here (this cantata being sung by alto Daniela del Monaco) are of a consistently high level and rhythmic acuity.
Yet there’s no question but that de Vittorio’s performances are the continual and consistent highlights of this set, a flagrant poke in the eye of those who only listen to Baroque music played and sung in a polite, pin-neat, emotionally contained style. De Vittorio is anything
but
polite and emotionally contained, and as you jump from CD 2 to CD 3 you are reminded again just how good he is. Listen, for instance, to the way de Vittorio and the viola da gamba jump through the jagged melodic lines of Simone Coya’s
Che volete de me?
to be reminded of just how vital this music once was, and you’ll have a good idea of how far down the path to boredom most early-music singers and groups have gone. The tenor is also on two other recordings, Pergolesi’s
Stabat Mater
from 2004 (Alpha 9) and
Fra Diavolo: Music in the Streets of the Kingdom of Naples
(Arcana 359), both CDs having been reviewed in
Fanfare
by J. F. Weber, who likewise seemed to love de Vittorio’s parlando style and rhythmic vitality. Without writing a dissertation on these pieces, I can say that I enjoy every piece in this collection, though naturally, some more than others. This set is a treasure.
FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley
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Works on This Recording
1.
Sdegno, campion audace by Giuseppe Tricarico
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
2.
Squarciato appena havea by Francesco Provenzale
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
4.
Non cchiù Ciccillo mio by Nicola Sabino
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
7.
Oh cielo oh ammore by Giulio Cesare Rubino
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
8.
Toccata for Keyboard by Francesco Nicola Fago
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
10.
La Lucieta by Francesco Manelli
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
11.
Care selve, amati orrori by Francesco Provenzale
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
12.
Compatitemi amanti by Francesco Provenzale
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
15.
La mia speme è vanità by Francesco Provenzale
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
16.
Come io viva Dio lo sà by Francesco Provenzale
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
18.
All’impero d’Amore by Francesco Provenzale
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
19.
Sinfonia a 4 by Filippo Coppola
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
20.
Gionto il fatal dì by Francesco Provenzale
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
22.
Sinfonia a 4 by Giovanni Cesare Netti
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
23.
Voi ombre notturne by Francesco Provenzale
Conductor:
Antonio Florio
Orchestra/Ensemble:
I Turchini
Period: Baroque
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