Francesco Cavalli,
a pupil of Claudio Monteverdi, was the
leading opera composer in Venice in
the middle of the 17th century. His
operas represent the next stage in the
development of the genre. In two aspects
they are different from Monteverdi's:
there is a stronger contrast between
recitative and aria, and the complete
dominance of the text over the music
has given way to a more lyrical style.
Despite the importance of Cavalli's
many operas in music history, they are
far less frequently performed and recorded
than Monteverdi's. Only a handful of
them are available on disc. From that
perspective this recording with fragments
from five operas is most welcome. It
shows that the lack of interest cannot
be put down to any want of musical quality.
A programme like this
isn't unproblematic, though. The contrast
between recitative and aria may be stronger
than in Monteverdi's operas but they
are still closely connected, as the
lyrics of the arias demonstrate. Here
we find many references to the story
of the opera. This makes their isolation
from the dramatic context rather unsatisfying.
This is partly compensated for by an
extensive synopsis of the operas in
the booklet, but what is still lacking
is the development of the respective
characters, and the way this is reflected
in the music. Only complete performances
of the operas can show whether the singers
do justice to the characters.
As far as I know three
of the operas represented here have
been recorded (more or less) completel:
Didone by Thomas Hengelbrock, and Giasone
and La Calisto by René Jacobs.
One can imagine some people hesitating
over buying those recordings, if they
don't know whether they like Cavalli's
music. Those very people may be well
served by this disc as the the fragments
have been well-chosen.
One of the most beloved
musical forms was the lament: the programme
contains several. But operas at that
time also started to contain comic characters
and story lines, like Giasone, which
was Cavalli's most popular and admired,
but also most despised and criticised
opera.
It is a shame that
the performances are somewhat uneven.
Some singers are rather unconvincing
in the fragments they have to sing.
In particular the alto Gianluca Belfiori
Doro is disappointing: his voice is
too weak, in particular in the lower
register, where he doesn't use his chest
register. In addition to that his singing
is marred by a continuous wobble. Mario
Cecchetti's performances are uneven:
as Enea (Aeneas) in Didone he shows
little presence and his singing lacks
expression. He does much better as Demo
in the comical scene from Giasone.
Gloria Banditelli and
Roberto Abbondanza, on the other hand,
are very impressive, and demonstrate
that the performance of dramatic roles
comes natural to them. Banditelli, for
instance, gives a moving performance
of Dido's lament in Didone. Rosita Frisani
was an unknown quantity to me, but makes
a very good impression here, for example
in Isifile's lament in Giasone. Unfortunately
she uses too wide a vibrato in some
recitatives.
The instrumental ensemble
is small: two violins, two violas and
basso continuo, with additional winds
(two transverse flutes, two trumpets)
and percussion. This is in accordance
with what is known about the instrumental
forces in the theatres at the time.
These were rather small, and didn't
allow larger groupings. The playing
here is excellent, as is Sergio Vartolo's
support of the singers on the harpsichord.
In short, despite the
uneven quality of the interpretations,
this disc is good enough to convince
any music lover that Cavalli's operas
are well worth listening to. One can
only hope that more of Cavalli's operas
will be recorded completely in the future.
Johan van Veen
see also
review by Robert Hugill
Rosita Frisani, soprano; Gloria Banditelli,
mezzo; Gianluca Belfiori Doro, alto; Mario Cecchetti,
tenor; Roberto Abbondanza, baritone 
