The sequence of Italian operas on this recording take us from the birth of opera at the end of the sixteenth century to the first flowerings of the Classical period nearly 200 years later. The extraordinary power and agility of Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s voice comes fully into its own on this recording, allowing for a richness and projection not always enjoyed in this rarefied area of the repertoire.
CARISSIMI: Vittoria , mio core!
VIVALDI: Se il cor guerriero (Tito Manlio)
GLUCK: O del mio dolce ardor (Paride ed Elena)
GIORDANI: Caro mio ben
HANDEL: Dignare o Domine (Dettingen Te Deum)
VIVALDI: Orribile lo scempio (Tito Manlio)
CALDARA: Selve amiche (La costanza in amor vince l’inganno)
GLUCK: Che farò senza Euridice? (Orfeo ed Euridice)
HANDEL: Frondi levere e belle – Ombra mai fù (Serse)
HANDEL: Sorge infausta (Orlando)
CALDARA: Come raggio di sol
DURANTE: Vergin, tutto amor
HANDEL: Chi sprezzando (Brockes Passion)
SCARLATTI: Già il sole dal Gange
ANONYMOUS: Nina
DURANTE: Daza, danza, fanciulla
CACCINI: Amarilli, mia bella
CESTI: Si mantiene il mio amor
STRADELLA: Pietà, Signore
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Neville Marriner
Recording producer: Anna Barry
Recording engineers: Jean-Marie Geijsen; Thijs Hoekstra
Recording location: Henry Wood Hall, London, January 1997
‘rich, full-bodied tone, strength and depth across the range and excellent dynamic control … the lyricism and stamina of his sustained legato passages are impressive’ Limelight