Agostino STEFFANI (1654 1728)
Vocal Chamber Duets
Pria ch'io faccia [8:33]
E così mi compatite? [7:38]
Lontananza crudel, tu mi tormenti [3:14]
Vorrei dire un non so che [7:28]
Dolce è per voi soffrire [4:56]
Gelosia, che vuoi da me? [7:33]
Saldi marmi che coprite [10:38]
Elena Bertuzzi (soprano), Alessio Tosi (tenor), Rebecca Ferri (cello),
Michele Pasotti (theorbo), Francesco Baroni (harpsichord)
rec. 19-22 June 2014, Chiesa di San Celestino, Pietole, Mantua, Italy.
DDD
Texts and translations to be downloaded from
Brilliant
Classics site
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94969 [50:23]
Agostino Steffani was a remarkable composer, in particular
because of the diversity of his activities. He was not only a professional
composer, but was also heavily involved in politics, especially as a
diplomat, and made a career in the Catholic Church. He was a precocious
talent: as a boy before his voice broke he had already
participated in opera performances. For 21 years he was in the service
of Elector Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria in Munich. He then moved to Hanover
where he became music director at the court of Elector Ernst August.
In the 1690s he became increasingly involved in diplomacy; some of his
missions were connected to the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1703
he entered the service of another Elector, Johann Wilhelm of the Palatinate
in Düsseldorf. In 1709 he returned to Hanover and focused on his activities
in the Church. It was his assignment to promote the Counter-Reformation
in a region dominated by Lutheranism. At this time he hardly composed
any music.
Steffanis oeuvre is quite large and comprises almost exclusively
vocal music. The genre of the duet was especially important to him and
his duets were the main reason for his fame. In 1739 the German theorist
and composer Johann Mattheson wrote: The Italian style of the
duet now lacks much of the good qualities of concentration and clarity,
mentioned above, because of its fugal, artificial and interwoven nature.
However, these duets demand a real man and are a special delight to
musically-educated ears, in the chamber as well as in the church (and
formerly, in Steffanis time, also in the theatre), provided that
accomplished and reliable singers can be found for them; of these we
now have fewer than of such works themselves. In this kind of duet the
aforesaid Steffani incomparably surpassed all other composers known
to me and deserves to be taken as a model to this day; for such things
do not easily grow old.
Many of his duets circulated in manuscript across Europe and composers
of later generations were strongly influenced by them. One could consider
the duet the vocal counterpart of the trio sonata which was modelled
by Arcangelo Corelli. Steffani composed more than eighty duets, for
various combinations of voices. It is notable that a number of them
are scored for a high voice and a tenor. Not that many secular vocal
music were written for low male voices. Chamber cantatas one
of the most popular genres of vocal music were almost exclusively
scored for soprano or alto, and duets for soprano and tenor seem rather
rare.
The seven duets recorded here are different in texture. The first two
are divided into four sections each of which is treated as a dacapo
aria. The third comprises just one 'aria'. The remaining four duets
have the texture of a chamber cantata: they not only comprise dacapo
'arias' but also recitatives for either voice. Steffani's duets stand
out for his treatment of counterpoint but also his sensitivity to the
text. It is unfortunate that in the document with the lyrics which can
be downloaded from the Brilliant Classics site the Italian original
and the English translations are not printed side by side which makes
it rather hard to follow exactly how Steffani has set the texts. One
quality has not been mentioned yet: melodic fluency. That can be admired
here due to the fine singing of Elena Bertuzzi and Alessio Tosi.
Although these duets have dramatic qualities, they are not dramatic
in the operatic sense of the word. There are no dialogues between opposing
characters. It is always a single character that speaks, mostly expressing
his sadness about the tribulations of love. Even when both soprano and
tenor have a recitative, it is still the same character whose voice
we hear. Steffani uses the interplay of the two voices and the possibilities
of counterpoint to express the text. It is therefore especially important
that the two voices blend perfectly, and that is exactly what we find
here. The two singers are on the same wavelength and their cooperation
is exemplary. The performances are expressive and achieved without incessant
vibrato.
This disc has just one minus: the short playing time. Considering the
quality of the music and the performances and the fact that Steffanis
duets are not that well represented on disc this is regrettable. However,
the price of Brilliant Classics discs is such that this can hardly be
a reason not to purchase this CD.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen