Alessandro Stradella Consort

Alessandro Stradella Consort & Estévan Velardi – Stradella: La Circe (First & Second Versions) & Other Works (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:52:04 minutes | 1,98 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Dynamic

Alessandro Stradella was a highly influential composer in his day, producing an abundance of masterpieces despite his dissolute and dramatically brief life. Written for the lavish celebrations marking Leopoldo de’ Medici being made a cardinal, La Circe is set near a fountain on the leafy slopes of Parnassus. It evokes the spirit of the sorceress Circe who, while searching for the grave of her son, is dazzled by a bright light – the presence of a Medici. Complete with echo effects and deliciously lyrical and expressive music, La Circe is both a fascinating enigma and a perfect example of aristocratic tastes in Baroque Rome. This double album release contains the unabridged version of La Circe I and the World Premiere Recording of La Circe II, and the booklet provides detailed notes. Played on period instruments.

(more…)

Alessandro Stradella Consort & Estévan Velardi – Stradella: Cantatas & Serenatas, Vol. 1 (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:15:21 minutes | 765 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Dynamic

Despite the many scandals in his life, Alessandro Stradella rose to prominence in Rome, where his music was widely acclaimed. At a time when opera was often denigrated by the papacy, Stradella’s cantatas and serenatas proved enormously successful, the form of which includes a sequence of recitatives, arias and instrumental pieces. The theme is the pain of love, which Stradella encounters with a limitless variety of expression and virtuosity, be it in the soprano echo effects of Arsi già di una fiamma, the almost operatic vastness of Or ch’alla dea notturna or the structural perfection of Infinite son le pene.

(more…)

Alessandro Stradella Consort & Estévan Velardi – Stradella: Cantatas & Serenatas, Vol. 2 (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:07:30 minutes | 686 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Dynamic

Alessandro Stradella was the undisputed star composer of his day who wrote hundreds of works in varying genres. His cantatas are in essence miniature operas in which the themes of love and the complexities of the human condition reflected the composer’s own ‘cloak and dagger’ misadventures amidst Roman and Venetian aristocracy. From an allegory of life in Apre l’uomo infelice and captivating pastoral scenes in Qui dove fa soggiorno, to unrequited love and the desire for freedom expressed in Per tua vaga beltade, Stradella adapted his inventiveness to his patrons’ tastes to create these veritable jewels in music, all of which are rich in splendid melodies and refined artistry. The Alessandro Stradella Consort is a vocal and instrumental ensemble founded in July 1987 by Estévan Velardi and formerly called the Camerata Ligure. It focuses on the performance of Italian Baroque repertoire on period instruments. It explores music from the Renaissance to the present day, ranging from works for vocal or instrumental duo to grandiose operas and oratorios with vocal soloists, chorus and large orchestra. It is especially dedicated to reviving rare or unpublished works by Italian composers of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Its recordings, comprising a vast repertoire of instrumental and vocal/instrumental works, oratorios and operas, appear on several labels beside Dynamic.

(more…)