Francesco CAVALLI (1602-1676)
L’Ipermestra - opera in three acts (1658)
Linceo - Emanuella Galli (Mezzo)
Ipermestra - Elena Monti (Soprano)
Danao - Sergio Foresti (Bass)
Elisa - Gaëlle Le Roi (Soprano)
Berenice – Mark Beekman (Tenor)
Arbante – Mark Tucker (Tenor)
La Sfera Armonica/Mike Fentross
rec. 2006, Satdsschouwberg, Utrecht
Sung in Italian
Libretto in Italian, Notes in English
CHALLENGE CLASSICS CC72774 [3 CDs: 166:09]
Francisco Cavalli’s 1658 opera L’Ipermestra is one of a number of works based on the Greek legend. There are countless operas on this subject by composers such as Hasse, Gluck, and Mercadante, to name a few, but most of those remain relatively unknown. The only one I have encountered before is Antonio Salieri’s Les Danaïdes, as two commercial recordings of it have previously been released. This recording is the first ever of Cavalli’s opera. It was composed originally for The Teatro dell Pergola in Florence to coincide with birthday celebrations for the Grand Duchess of Florence in 1655 but was held back by building delays. The opera was eventually chosen to celebrate the birth of the new heir, Prince Felipe Prospero, in 1658.
The story concerns the demand that King Danaus has placed on Hypermnestra and all of her 49 sisters to marry the sons of the King of Egypt and slaughter them after the wedding. The story is essentially a series of love complications between the various characters before a happy ending takes place. Salieri’s is a full Tragédie lyrique. It is surprising to me to encounter this as a sort semi-comic opera but that is the genre that Cavalli’s audience demanded. It is worth noting that in the Greek legend, Hypermnestra’s 49 sisters carry out the murders and are condemned to carry water in sieves for all eternity.
The first thing I must say about this recording is how involved everyone seems to be. It was taken from the premiere performance of the first modern production since the 1600s and there is a palpable spark of excitement from the cast and musicians throughout the evening.
The title role of Ipermestra is sung with clear, bell-like tone by soprano Elena Monti. The vivid expression she brings to all of her music is a joy to encounter. The second soprano role of the servant Elisa is sung by Gaëlle Le Roi. She, too, has a beautiful vocal quality, light and airy-sounding. She sings very expressively in both recitative and the short airs that she is given. In a perfect world, her tone might be more contrasted with that of her mistress. This makes it difficult to tell them apart but both of them sing so beautifully that it would be churlish to complain.
The hero of the piece is Linceo whom Ipermestra loves. This is sung by mezzo Emanuella Galli. She possesses an instrumental tone with warmth, colour and elegance to her sound. There were a few occasions where she reminded of the young Fiorenza Cossotto in some of her early 1950’s recordings.
Mark Beekman gets the plum role of Berenice, Ipermestra’s nanny and makes a stellar contribution. These travesty roles always seem to bring out the best in Cavalli’s compositional skills and they are often the favorite principal with the audience. Mr Beekman gets to jump around in an exaggerated emotional spectrum and his singing is a constant delight.
The deposed King Danaus is Bass Sergio Foresti. He has a very firm, clear-sounding bass that encompasses a wide range and sings most expressively. He has a wonderful scene where he must sing accompanied by a baroque organ, harpsichord, and of all things...a sackbut. It would be easy to be overwhelmed by them but he holds his own splendidly. The rival to Linceo is Arbante, sung by tenor Mark Tucker. He fills his music with a pleasing voice that has a slightly tremulous quality about it.
The period orchestra La Sfera Armonica all play with great beauty and style for conductor Mike Fentross. Mr Fentross is responsible for getting hold of a copy of the manuscript of this work from the Marciana Library in Venice. His direction is obviously a labour of love and he lavishes every care in bringing out the nuances of Cavalli’s score. It is worth noting that there are a couple of additions, as Cavalli’s original music survived in an incomplete form. There is a Sinfonia from Cavalli’s earlier opera Doriclea and some battle music by rival composer Andrea Falconieri (1585-1686)
The fact that this single performance plays on CD as well as it does is a tribute to all involved. The engineers have caught the performance extremely well, the sole caveat being that there is microphone overloading on some vocal crescendos that I noted occasionally throughout all three CDs. This should not be enough to put one off from investing in this rewarding set.
There is a wonderful essay on the opera’s history by Niccola Usula but the libretto is in Italian only. There is a download available from the Challenge records website with the Italian libretto and a Dutch translation. It would be nice if an English translation could also be made available.
A pleasant discovery for both Cavalli enthusiasts and lovers of early music in general.
Mike Parr
