Alessandro Stradella was a highly admired performer and composer
in his time. After his death he was called "un Orfeo assassinato"
- an Orfeo murdered, probably referring to his qualities as
a tenor. His adultery and various affairs with women as well
as his secondary job of matchmaking caused him a lot of trouble.
It apparently resulted in his being stabbed to death in Genoa
in 1682 at the age of just 42. In that relatively short span
he wrote a large and versatile oeuvre. It comprises a number
of operas and oratorios, and in particular a large number of
cantatas. Today his most famous work is his oratorio San
Giovanni Battista.
The lion’s share of his 174 extant cantatas are for soprano
and basso continuo; other voice types are only sporadically
used. In her liner-notes Carolyn Gianturco points out how much
attention Stradella paid to the text. "While other composers,
both before and after him, drew attention to single words through
dissonance or melodic ornamentation, Stradella's settings, despite
using this technique, are more closely and continuously tied
to the text. (...) Stradella interprets each text as a literary
and musical dramatist, so that the words, phrases and overall
meaning of his dramatic vocal music can be interpreted fully
and understood unambiguously."
The arias on these discs are collected from various manuscripts
from, locations spread across Europe and even the United States.
It says something about the popularity of Stradella's music.
In his stock-taking of the arias John S. Powell fails to make
clear why these were written. Were they conceived as independent
pieces or were they originally part of cantatas? His analysis
of these arias leads to the conclusion that, although they are
all about love, there is quite a lot of variety in the way the
subject is treated.
Unfortunately that is not really reflected in the way they are
performed. Although the liner-notes don't say so I assume this
disc contains all Stradella’s extant solo arias. That in itself
makes this an important production, also considering the quality
of the music. This makes it all the more disappointing that
this project in the end has to be considered less than a success.
To begin with, as the far majority of the arias have the same
scoring - soprano and basso continuo - it is not very smart
to programme them as they are on these discs. A mixture with
instrumental pieces or with some of Stradella's duets or trios
would have created some variety. It would also have helped if
more than one soprano could have been involved. Now we hear
the same voice for more than two hours almost without interruption.
And that is not a great pleasure. I have heard Susanne Rydén
in other recordings, and she has the perfect voice for religious
music of the 17th century, and especially German repertoire.
Here she is totally miscast.
Technically she is overstretched. She gives the impression of
having quite some trouble in hitting the top notes, and these
often sound uncomfortable. She then pushes out the sound at
the expense of the delivery. Because of that we hear fortes
where they are not required. The articulation leaves something
to be desired and in more than one instance the intonation is
suspect.
The interpretation is even more problematic. Explaining Stradella's
differentiated treatment of the subject of love is one thing,
making it audible is quite another. It is particularly here
that this interesting project goes astray. The light-hearted
and ironic items come off rather well, but in the more dramatic
stuff Rydén fails to communicate the protagonist's sadness,
despair or anger. There is no depth or real emotion. And when
she tries to sing dramatically, for instance in Il mio cor,
ch'è infelicissimo, it is unnatural and lacks conviction.
Her voice is too light and not very colourful. Why did Claudio
Astronio choose Ms Rydén? I can only dream about what a naturally
dramatic soprano like Roberta Invernizzi - to mention just one
- would have made of this repertoire. Martin Oro makes a better
impression, and in particular the baritone Lisandro Abadie delivers
good performances. The highlight is Dormite, occhi, dormite,
a very expressive dialogue of voice and violin. But their contributions
are too small to redeem this set.
I have heard music by Stradella before and have greatly enjoyed
it. Here I was glad when the last note died away. It was quite
an effort to keep my concentration while listening to these
discs, not because of the quality of the music but because of
the one-dimensional performances. It is very sad that an interesting
project like this has gone astray.
The lyrics in the booklet contain various errors. In the track-list
and the printing of the lyrics track 8 of the first disc and
track 6 of the second have been swapped. I have corrected this
in the review header.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
Track listing
CD 1
Toccata in a minor [4:16]
È pazzia l'innamorarsi [1:04]
Mio cor, che si fa? [4:39]
Che mi giovan le vittorie** [1:52]
'Fedeltà!' sinché spirto in petto avrò [5:57]
Adorata libertà, dal mio core non partite [6:05]
Parti, fuggi dal mio seno [1:35]
Il mio cor ch'è infelicissimo [1:47]
Pria di scior quel dolce nodo* [5:01]
Begl'occhi, il vostro piangere [2:44]
Se di gioie m'alletta il sereno [3:01]
Cara e dolce libertà [4:50]
Deh, frenate i furori** [8:16]
Non fia mai, ah no, ch'io speri [2:11]
S'Amor m'annoda il piede [3:51]
Le luci vezzose volgetemi, o Clori [5:50]
Quanto è bella la mia stella [2:33]
Ogni sguardo che tu scocchi [1:19]
CD 2
Chi mi disse che Amor dà tormento [1:19]
Pensier ostinato [1:25]
Al rigor di due tiranni [2:43]
Da Filinda aver chi può [4:46]
Speranze smarrite* [1:48]
Il mio core per voi, luci belle [3:43]
Dell'ardore ch'il core distempra [3:33]
Chi vuol libero il suo piè [4:08]
Delizie, contenti** [2:46]
Chi non porta amor nel petto [1:17]
Chi avesse visto un core [4:02]
Dormite, occhi, dormite** [5:39]
Deh, vola, o desio [2:45]
Avete torto, occhi miei cari [3:30]
Ti lascerò e a poco a poco [6:01]
Torna, Amor, dammi il mio bene [2:24]
Destatevi, o sensi, risvegliati, onore [1:55]
Avrò pur d'aspettar più? [3:53]
Bel tempo, addio, son fatto amante [4:04]
Harmonices Mundi (Susanne Rydén (soprano), Martin Oro (alto)*, Lisandro Abadie (baritone)**, Hedwig Raffeiner, Rossella Croce (violin), Alessandro Palmeri (cello), Pietro Posser (lute, theorbo, guitar), Claudio Astronio (harpsichord, organ))/Claudio Astronio
