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Track(s) taken from CDA67621

Credimi pur che t'amo

composer
completed in Rome no 4 July 1712
author of text

Elena Cecchi Fedi (soprano), Auser Musici, Carlo Ipata (conductor)
Recording details: October 2006
Oratorio di S Domenico, Pisa, Italy
Produced by Sigrid Lee
Engineered by Roberto Meo
Release date: September 2008
Total duration: 13 minutes 49 seconds

Cover artwork: Danae (detail) by Antonio Allegri Correggio (c1489-1534)
Galleria Borghese, Rome / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘This outstanding disc not only displays unequivocal proof of Porpora's exceptional skill … but also provides some of the most genuinely enjoyable and captivating performances of eighteenth-century vocal music I have heard on disc for a very long time … these are brilliantly written recitatives, clearly, but with Fedi's clarity of diction and conviction of delivery, they are transformed into something truly exceptional. Yet to single out the recitatives, when the instrumental colouring of the arias and sinfonias is so magical, is to do a major disservice both to Porpora and to Auser Musici … here is music-making of such infectious happiness that this disc is destined to be a constant companion for the foreseeable future’ (International Record Review)

‘Soprano Elena Cecchi Fedi's singing is both beautiful and vocally deft, and the playing of the Italian group Auser Musici is emotionally responsive and dramatically alert to match. The opening cantata, Or sì m'avveggio, oh Amore, with its rocketing cello obligato, is particularly fine’ (The Irish Times)
Credimi pur che t’amo was completed in Rome (as is indicated by Porpora himself on his conducting score) on 4 July 1712. A constant exchange of composers and performers between Naples and the capital of the Papal States was the norm in the early eighteenth century: one need only think, for example, of the careers of Alessandro Scarlatti and Giovan Carlo Cailò and their respective influence on the Roman operatic scene and the Neapolitan string school. The young and promising Porpora must have quickly entered this virtuoso circle, assimilating the influences of the surroundings in which he found himself. Although the instrumental sections of this cantata are written in the style of the concerto grosso (with systematic alternation between soli and tutti), and while some passages in the vocal lines display a Scarlattian flavour, and the character of the recitatives and certain harmonic options immediately call to mind the Roman milieu, there are many elements which (even to a modern ear) evince considerable originality and powerful innovations. An example is found in the conclusion of the last movement of the opening Sinfonia. Such innovations would not have stood out so strongly in the artistic climate of Naples, where the far-reaching transformations of musical language that Porpora himself, Leo, Vinci and their contemporaries were shortly to export to the world were already being prepared and tried out.

from notes by Stefano Aresi © 2008
English: Charles Johnston

Credimi pur che t’amo: Porpora mentionna sur sa grande partition l’avoir achevée à Rome le 4 juillet 1712. Au début du XVIIIe siècle, Naples et la capitale des États pontificaux s’échangeaient constamment compositeurs et interprètes: songeons seulement aux carrières d’Alessandro Scarlatti et de Giovan Carlo Cailò, et rappelons-nous leur ascendant respectif sur la scène opératique romaine et sur l’école de cordes napolitaine. Le jeune et prometteur Porpora dut rapidement intégrer ce cercles de virtuoses et en assimiler les influences. Même si les sections instrumentales de cette cantate sont écrites dans le style du concerto grosso (avec une alternance systématique soli/tuti), même si quelques passages des lignes vocales ont un parfum scarlattien, même si le caractère des récitatifs et certaines options harmoniques rappellent instantanément l’atmosphère romaine, maints éléments témoignent (même pour une oreille moderne) d’une immense originalité et d’innovations puissantes, comme dans la conclusion du dernier mouvement de la sinfonia liminaire. De telles innovations n’étaient pas autant remarquées à Naples, qui préparait et éprouvait déjà les considérables transformations du langage musical que Porpora lui-même, mais aussi Leo, Vinci et leurs contemporains s’apprêtaient à diffuser partout.

extrait des notes rédigées par Stefano Aresi © 2008
Français: Hypérion

Credimi pur che t’amo wurde am 4. Juli 1712 in Rom fertig (wie Porpora selbst auf seiner Dirigierpartitur notierte). Ein stetiger Austausch von Komponisten und Interpreten zwischen Neapel und der Hauptstadt des Kirchenstaates war Anfang des 18. Jahrhunderts die Norm: man braucht zum Beispiel nur an die Laufbahn von Alessandro Scarlatti und Giovan Carlo Cailò und ihren jeweiligen Einfluss auf die Opernszene Roms und die Neapolitanische Streicherschule zu denken. Der junge, vielversprechende Porpora muss sich schnell diesem Virtuosenzirkel angeschlossen und die Einflüsse der Umgebung, in der er sich fand, assimiliert haben. Obwohl die Instrumentalabschnitte dieser Kantate im Stile eines Concerto grosso (mit systematischem Wechsel zwischen Soli und Tutti) gehalten sind, und einige Passagen in den Gesangsstimmen ein Scarlattisches Flair besitzen und der Charakter der Rezitative und gewisser harmonischer Wahlen unmittelbar an das römische Milieu erinnern, gibt es viele Elemente, die (selbst für moderne Ohren) beträchtliche Originalität und eindrucksvolle Innovationen aufweisen. Ein Beispiel dafür findet sich am Schluss des letzten Satzes der einleitenden Sinfonia. Solche Erneuerungen ragten im musikalischen Klima von Neapel allerdings nicht so offensichtlich heraus, wo die weitreichenden Transformationen der Musiksprache, die Porpora selbst, Leo, Vinci und ihre Zeitgenossen bald der Welt vorstellen sollten, bereits vorbereitet und ausprobiert wurden.

aus dem Begleittext von Stefano Aresi © 2008
Deutsch: Renate Wendel

Di datazione sicura è invece la cantata Credimi pur che t’amo, terminata a Roma (stando a quanto indicato dallo stesso Porpora sulla sua partitura di direzione) il 4 Luglio 1712. Uno scambio costante di compositori ed esecutori tra Napoli e la capitale dello Stato Pontificio era norma all’aprirsi del XVIII secolo: basti pensare, a mero titolo di esempio, all’operato di Alessandro Scarlatti e Giovan Carlo Cailò e alla loro rispettiva influenza sul mondo teatrale romano e la scuola d’arco napoletana. Il giovane e promettente Porpora entrare presto in questo circolo virtuoso, facendo propri gli influssi degli ambienti in cui si trovò ad operare. Benché le parti strumentali di questa cantata siano scritte nel gusto del concerto grosso (con sistematiche alternanze soli/tutti), e nonostante alcuni passi delle linee vocali mostrino un sapore scarlattiano e la natura dei recitativi ed alcune scelte armoniche facciano immediatamente pensare all’ambiente romano, molti sono gli elementi che parlano (anche ad un orecchio moderno) di forti differenze e grandi novità: basti ascoltare, ad esempio, la conclusione dell’ultimo movimento della sinfonia introduttiva. Tali novità non sarebbero apparse così marcate nella vita artistica di Napoli, dove da tempo erano in preparazione e sperimentazione le eccezionali trasformazioni del linguaggio musicale che proprio Porpora, Leo, Vinci e i compositori loro coetanei avrebbero esportato di lì a poco nel mondo.

Stefano Aresi © 2008

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