MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively AmazonUK   AmazonUS

 

Giovanni PAISIELLO (1740-1816)
La Passione di Gesù Cristo, Azione Sacra in due parti (1783)
Roberta Invernizzi, Alla Simoni (soprano), Luca Dordolo (tenor), José Fardilha (baritone)
Coro della Radio Svizzeria, I Barocchisti/Diego Fasolis
rec. August 2001, Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano. DDD
CPO 7772572 [57:23 + 38:40]
Experience Classicsonline

 

In the second half of the 18th century St Petersburg developed into one of Europe's most prominent centres of music. It was Tsarina Catherina II who was responsible for this, despite her self-proclaimed deafness for music. Under her regime a decree made it compulsory for the aristocracy to attend musical and theatrical entertainments. Court musicians were ordered to compose music for state occasions, birthdays and name-days. The court choir, originally only singing religious music, started to participate in theatrical productions, and came under increasing Western influence. This influence is also reflected in music by composers like Graun, Pergolesi and Jommelli. Some prominent composers from Europe visited St Petersburg and sometimes stayed there for a number of years. Between 1758 and 1806 the position of maestro di cappella was mostly held by Italian composers, among them Manfredini, Galuppi, Traetta, Cimarosa and Sarti. Giovanni Paisiello was amongst  their number and stayed in St Petersburg from 1776 to 1784. It was also here that his oratorio 'La Passione di Gesù Cristo' received its first performance, in 1783.

The libretto dates from 1730 and was written by the famous librettist Pietro Metastasio. The first composer to use it was Antonio Caldara, maestro di cappella at the imperial court in Vienna. Later his libretto was selected by Nicolò Jommelli in 1749; his setting had also been performed some years before, in 1779, in St Petersburg. Paisiello asked Metastasio for an addition to the original text: between the last recitative for the four singers and the closing chorus he wanted to include a 'concertato' for the four singers. Metastasio bluntly refused and made clear he didn't like the idea at all.

In his libretto Metastasio completely avoids the biblical narration of the Passion story. He rather concentrates on depicting Jesus' agony in a very theatrical fashion. The story of the Passion is told by three of the four characters in retrospect: Mary Magdalene, John and Joseph of Arimathea. They were all present at some of the events leading to the death and burial of Jesus. The fourth character is Peter, who wasn't present at either of them, as he fled from the courtroom while Jesus was interrogated. It is Peter whom we meet at the beginning of the first part, desperately asking himself: "Where am I? Where am I going? Who guides my steps? After my failing I can find no more peace". The first part is then devoted to the other three protagonists telling Peter what has happened since he left the scene. In the second part the four characters talk about the coming resurrection and they look forward to the way the Jewish people will suffer the revenge for Jesus' death: "What terrible vengeance awaits you, faithless Jerusalem!"

The operatic character of the libretto is also reflected in Paisiello's music, which isn't that different from the operas of the time. The orchestra plays an important role in depicting the mood of the respective characters. The oratorio begins with an instrumental introduction which illustrates Peter's despair as expressed in the following recitative. This section contains a remarkable obbligato part for the clarinet. There are strong dissonances in the passage: "Why does the sun fade and become obscured in darkness?" The strings depict the trembling in Peter's aria which follows ("Since you tremble in my breast"). In Mary Magdalene's aria 'Vorrei dirti' short pauses illustrate her sighs: "And my stricken breast can scarcely gasp for breath". Paisiello isn't afraid of expressing joy; in particular in Peter's aria 'Tu nel duol', in which he says that John may consider himself fortunate, as Jesus has called him 'son'. The content is expressed in ascending figures. The second part also contains arias one wouldn't expect in a Passion oratorio. As Carlo Vitali puts it in his programme notes: "We should be tolerant when other arias, particularly in the second part of the oratorio, are packed with half-hearted flourishes or dance-elements likely to conjure up the world of the opera buffa e sentimentale". I can only agree with this, and I would personally expand this to the oratorio as a whole. If one listens to this work with the Gospels or with Bach's Passions at the back of one's mind, it may be difficult to swallow. In order to appreciate it one should try to put it into its historical perspective, and listen to it as an opera with a religious subject rather than as a piece of sacred music.

In the performance the operatic character comes out well. The soloists all give top-notch performances. Roberta Invernizzi is the most impressive as she captures the moods - and in particular the despair - of Peter brilliantly. Her role of Peter and the role of Mary Magdalene are the most dramatic in this oratorio, and the latter is given a fine account by Alla Simoni. In comparison the tenor and bass are not quite as impressive. Luca Dordolo is sometimes on the bland side, but he sings the aria 'Ritornerà il voi' well. I find the voice of José Fardilha not particularly pleasing, as it is a bit harsh, something the role of Joseph of Arimathea doesn't require. He does best in his aria 'All'idea de' tuoi perigli' in the second part.

It bears repeating: the orchestra has a very important role. Several arias contain obbligato parts, in particular for wind instruments. An example is Peter's aria 'Se a libarsi' in the second part, which begins in the manner of a movement from a clarinet concerto. The clarinet plays a solo which ends with a cadenza - only then does the soprano enter. I Barocchisti leave nothing to be desired. The playing is colourful and dynamic, and the individual players give fine performances of the obbligato parts. The wind section is especially impressive, consisting of pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, horns, bassoons and trumpets.

There are only three choruses: two in the first part (one in the middle and one at the end); the third concludes the oratorio. Those in the first part are very dramatic, and Paisiello here not only uses dynamics and instrumental colours to express their content - the role of the clarinet in 'Quanto costa' is remarkable - but also harmony. In the chorus which closes the first part the word "trema" (tremble) gets a special treatment, repeated time and again successively through all four voices. In comparison the chorus which closes the oratorio is quite different, much more introverted, reflecting the text’s focus on faith, hope and love. The choir of Italian Swiss Radio gives very impressive performances of all three choruses.

One needs to get used to an oratorio like this. But if you are willing to be open to the particular character of this work and are able to see it in its historical context you will be rewarded with fine music. It is perhaps especially lovers of the 18th century opera who will appreciate this work rather than those who have a specific interest in religious music. Diego Fasolis and his team of singers and players have delivered a performance which reveals this work's strengths in a most convincing way.

Johan van Veen


 


 




 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.