ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI:
LA GLORIA DI PRIMAVERA
with Diana Moore, Suzana Ograjensek, Clint van der Linde and Douglas Williams
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
ABOUT THE ALBUM
The ninth disc from Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra’s recording label features the live recording of the U.S. Premiere of the newly discovered serenata performed at First Congregational Church in Berkeley in October 2015. Music Director Nicholas McGegan conducts the orchestra and an acclaimed cast of soloists including Diana Moore, Suzana Ograjenšek, Clint van der Linde, Nicholas Phan and Douglas Williams with the Philharmonia Chorale directed by Bruce Lamott.
Synopsis
Part One. Receiving the joyful news of the newborn heir, each of the four seasons reflects on the significance of this noble birth to the Austrian (aka Holy Roman) Empire. Spring (Primavera), Summer (Estate), Autumn (Autunno), and Winter (Inverno) in turn sing a recitative and aria describing imperial symbols such as the eagle and the Danube, emblematic of what Spring describes as “we, the storied elect.” A second cycle of arias is introduced with recitatives on a poetic juxtaposition of “then and now” contrasting the horrors of the recently ended War of the Spanish Succession, personified by the Roman goddess of war Bellona, with the pleasures and serenity of the ensuing peace, historically known as the Peace of Utrecht. However, when Spring audaciously claims higher honors than the rest owing to the date of the royal birth, the other seasons take exception, and all agree to invoke Jove to be their judge.
Part Two. A solemn invocation greets the arrival of Jove, and Spring sums up for him the arguments of her rivals: of Summer for the child’s conception, Autumn for the fecundity of “the Imperial breast,” Winter for the growing strength in the womb, and Spring herself takes credit (again) for the child’s birth. Each season, in that order, then makes their claim by amplifying these themes with a recitative and aria, leaving Spring last up to win over the already biased Jove with a double play: an aria both evoking the song of a nightingale and sung in the seductive rhythm of a siciliana. The predictable outcome is accepted by the other seasons without protest. The remainder of the work consists of benedictions from each season on the newborn and his role in the Empire, a return to the textual themes of the opening scene: a continuation of the Hapsburg line, immortality, and protection from threats against the Empire (specifically Ottomans, Thracians, Asians, and Anatolian Turks). Jove gets the final word, claiming the infant as his spiritual son, and all proclaim the return of a beautiful Age of Gold (Ò bell’età d’oro).
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
GRAMOPHONE
EDITOR’S CHOICE - July 2016
"Nicholas Phan’s precise florid passagework in ‘Di cieco orrore e d’ombra’ is one of Winter’s gutsier outbursts, although he also has the softly mellifluous ‘Sull’orme de’ grand’Avi’ (with a gentle pair of oboes)...McGegan’s experienced direction and the musical finesse of his Californian orchestra. This is a delightfully enjoyable revelation of the elder Scarlatti’s genius."
SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE
“...simply superb...Tenor Nicholas Phan sings marvelously, with great strength and heroic timbre."
OPERA NEWS
CRITIC’S CHOICE - October 2016
"Tenor Nicholas Phan also shows a wonderful sense of language and contour in Winter’s recitatives. He brings vocal personality and dramatic shape to the many text repetitions of the vigorous aria 'Di cieco orrore' and keeps the chromatic and complicated 'Sull’orme de grand’avi supple and fluid."
THE New York TIMES
“Whatever the case and whatever the work’s ultimate merits, it is good to have it in circulation. The Zankel performance featured the same fine vocal soloists heard on the recording: Diana Moore as Spring, Suzana Ograjensek as Summer, Clint van der Linde as Autumn, Nicholas Phan as Winter and Douglas Williams as Jove.
The tenor Mr. Phan, in particular, is becoming a star of the American early-music scene, a status that Philharmonia Baroque has long enjoyed.”