European early music group led by Christina Pluhar, L’Arpeggiata performs pieces from the Venetian composer and organist Francesco Cavalli. This performance was recorded during the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht (Utrecht Early Music Festival) on August 30, 2016, at the TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht. Soloists: Nuria Rial [soprano], Giuseppina Bridelli [mezzo-soprano], Vincenzo Capezzuto [countertenor], Jakub Józef Orliński [countertenor].
Program
- Sinfonia – uit: La Calisto, Teatro San Apollinare, 1651
- Prologue – L’Armonia – uit: L’Ormindo, Teatro San Apollinare, 1649
- Sinfonia – uit: Il Giasone, Teatro San Cassiano, 1649
- Piante ombrose – uit: La Calisto, Teatro San Apollinare, 1651
- Verginella, io morir vo – uit: La Calisto, Teatro San Apollinare, 1651
- Ninfa bella – uit: La Calisto, Teatro San Apollinare, 1651
- Restino imbalsamato – uit: La Calisto, Teatro San Apollinare, 1651
- Non è maggior piacer – uit: La Calisto, Teatro San Apollinare, 1651
- Erme e solinghe cime – uit: La Calisto, Teatro San Apollinare, 1651
- Da le sponde tartaree – uit: La Calisto, Teatro San Apollinare, 1651
- Sinfonia – uit: Eliogabalo
- Vieni, vieni in questo seno – uit: La Rosinda, 1651
- Che città – uit: L’Ormindo, Teatro San Cassiano, 1644
Francesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli, originally named Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni, was a significant composer, organist, and singer of the early Baroque period, born on February 14, 1602, in Crema, then part of the Venetian Republic. He emerged as a central figure in the Venetian musical scene, particularly in the realm of opera, and became a successor to his teacher Claudio Monteverdi, leading the opera scene in mid-17th-century Venice.
Cavalli’s journey in music began at a young age when he joined St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice as a boy soprano in 1616. This opportunity allowed him to work closely with Monteverdi, under whose guidance Cavalli honed his musical skills. He progressed to become the second organist at St. Mark’s in 1639, the first organist in 1665, and eventually, in 1668, he was appointed maestro di cappella. Cavalli adopted his surname from his patron, the Venetian nobleman Federico Cavalli.
While Cavalli composed extensively for the church, his enduring legacy is predominantly in the sphere of opera. He began composing operas around 1639, coinciding with the opening of Venice’s first public opera house, the Teatro San Cassiano. Over his lifetime, he wrote more than forty operas, with the majority premiering in Venice. Among his best-known works are “Ormindo” (1644), “Giasone” (1649), and “La Calisto” (1651). These operas were known for their melodic arias and the incorporation of popular types into the libretti.
Cavalli’s influence on the development of opera was profound. His style differed from Monteverdi’s earlier operas, which were composed for court orchestras with lavish instrumentation. Cavalli’s operas, tailored for the public opera houses, were composed for smaller orchestras with strings and basso continuo, reflecting the constraints of public venues. He is credited with introducing melodious arias and bringing a sense of dramatic effect, musical ease, and a distinct, often grotesque, humor to Italian opera.
Cavalli’s death in Venice on January 14, 1676, marked the end of an era. He left behind a legacy that encapsulates the evolution of opera as a popular public spectacle. Of his forty-one operas, twenty-seven survive, mainly preserved in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice. His work in sacred music, though less celebrated, includes settings of the Magnificat in Venetian polychoral style, Marian antiphons, a Requiem Mass, and some instrumental pieces.
Sources
- Francesco Cavalli on Wikipedia
