Curious about the title of this blog? Here are Antonio and Andreas.

Left Antonio Vivaldi, an Italian Baroque composer (1678 – 1741) and right Andreas Scholl, a German countertenor (1967 -).

In this post the connection between the two are three beautiful religious masterpieces, composed by Vivaldi and sung by Scholl.

The first one is Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater, composed in 1721 for alto or countertenor. It describes the sorrow of Mary, the mother of Jesus during his crucifixion. The first stanza reads: Stabat mater dolorósa juxta Crucem lacrimósa, dum pendébat Fílius (The sorrowful mother was standing beside the Cross weeping, while the Son was hanging)

Here is the Stabat Mater, sung by Andreas Scholl. Click on the manuscript to listen.

Many recordings exist. Listen to Who sings Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater best? for a comparison of four countertenors and one alto. For me Andreas Scholl is the best.

The second one is Vivaldi’s Salve Regina, also about Mary, the mother of Jesus, venerated by Catholic Christians. The first stanza reads Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae, vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.(Hail O queen. Mother of mercy, Our life, tenderness and hope; hail.). In this YouTube Scholl is singing while you can follow the score.

There doesn’t (yet) exist a Who sings Vivaldi’s Salve Regina best? I found a few recordings of RV 616 on YouTube. Here are Calos Mena, Spanish countertenor , Sara Mingardo , Italian contralto, and James Bowman , English countertenor. Listen and judge for yourself.

VIvaldi was a prolific composer, the Catalogue of Vivaldi’s works has more than 800 entries. He composed the Salve Regina four times (one got lost). Here are recordings of RV 617 by Gabriela Eibnerova, a Czech soprano (beautiful!) and RV 618 by Gérard Lesne , a French countertenor.

The third one is not about Maria. It is a cantata, a setting of psalm 127, named after the first two Latin words, Nisi Dominus (Unless the Lord …). Click here for the complete text. And listen to this magistral recording by Andreas Scholl (in 2000).

Many years ago the Nisi Dominus was my first introduction to Vivaldi as a composer of more than the Four Seasons. This post is about his sacred music, but he also wrote beautiful operas, just listen to the aria Gelido in ogni vena from his opera Farnace and to Armatae Face et anquibus from Juditha Triumphans.

To preserve the balance in this post between Antonio and Andreast, listen to Andreas Scholl in works by other composers. Here is the Agnus Dei from Bach’s Mass in B minor and the duet Io t’abbracio from Handel’s opera Rodelinda.

The third part of Nisi Dominus has been recorded by many singers, both countertenors and contraltos. There is a YouTube Who Sings Cum Dederit Best, but for reasons unclear to me, Andreas Scholl is not included. Several comments on the video criticise this omission.

To finish this post in a lighter vein, I will give you the text of Cum Dederit. Personally I find the music still emotional, even after listing numerous times. Wouldn’t you expect a deeper meaning? Here is the Latin text and translation

My paraphrase: The Lord will give his beloved a good sleep and reward them with a numerous offspring.

In a few weeks time it will be Easter, this year quite early, 31 March. Christians celebrate on that day the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross three days before, on Good Friday.

In this time of the year I always listen to Bach’s passion music, either going to a concert (when I am in Amsterdam), or nowadays more often, on YouTube.

In 2014 I wrote a post about the St Matthew Passion. In that post I mentioned one recording, directed by Gustav Leonhardt in 1989, where the female parts (alto & soprano) are sung by males (countertenors and boy-sopranos/altos), as was common in Bach’s time. Watching my post again, I noticed that this recording is no longer available. That happens often with YouTubes about music, mostly a matter of copyright violation.

But I found a beautiful “replacement”, a recording by the Tölzer Knabenchor & Hofkapelle München conducted by Christian Fliegner.

This is for me at the moment the most impressive performance of the St Matthew passion. Choir, Soloists, Orchestra and Conductor, everything is perfect.

An interesting detail is that Christian Fliegner began his musical career as a boy-soprano in the same Tölzer choir that he is now directing. Here is a recording (~1980s) where he is singing the aria Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben from Bach’s St Matthew Passion.

In the same blog post I wrote about Bach’s St John passion. I gave a link to a recording by Ton Koopmans, but that recording is also not available anymore on YouTube. Searching for an alternative, I found a 1985 recording by Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

It fits perfectly in this blog for several reasons. In the first place because it is again an all-male performance. And the choir is the same Tölzer Knabenchor! Fliegner was born in 1976, it could well be that he was singing as a boy-soprano in the choir during the Harnoncourt recording!

Enjoy!

I named this blog Soon it will be Easter and wrote in the opening paragraph that Easter falls early this year. How is the Easter date determined? Here is the rule:

Determine the date of the first full moon after 21 March. Easter falls on the Sunday after that date.

For example, this year the first full moon after 21 March falls on 25 March, a Monday. Easter is on the next Sunday, 31 March. Next year the first full moon after 21 March falls on 13 April, a Sunday. Easter is on the next Sunday, 20 April.

The 32 piano sonatas composed by Ludwig van Beethoven between 1795 and 1822 are seen by many as a pinnacle of Western classical music. Some of them are so well-known that they have names, for example the Moonlight Sonata (Claudio Arrau, 1970), the Pathetique (Vladimir Ashkenazy, 1972), the Tempest (Glenn Gould, 1967) and the Appassionata (Emil Gilels, 1973). Numerous recordings are available, I have selected for this blog “old” ones.

Several pianists have recorded all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas. For example Artur Schnabel (1932-1935 !), Wilhelm Kempff (1964-65), Daniel Barenboim (2020)

My personal favourite has changed over time. At the moment it is sonata no 21 in C major, opus 53 , the Waldstein sonata, composed in 1804, when Beethoven was 33 years old.

Here is the score of the sonata, by clicking on it you can follow it. Recorded by Wilhelm Kempff

The Wikipedia article about the Waldstein sonata (see the link above) is very informative, it gives a description of the three movements with several sound samples and concludes: It is considered one of Beethoven’s greatest and most technically challenging piano sonatas

Almost all pianists have played the Waldstein and many recordings are available on YouTube. I have selected a few, click on an image to hear the recording. They span almost a century with Lamond the oldest I could find (1923 ?) and Yoshikawa a very recent one (2022).

There are many more. In an article “Beethoven’s ‘Waldstein’ Sonata: a guide to the greatest recordings“, Patrick Rucker, himself a professional pianist, discusses twenty recordings. Not much overlap with my “amateur” selection, only Lamond.

I am a fan of András Schiff. I like his playing, I like to see him play and I also like to hear him talk. Talk, yes, because almost twenty years ago, he has given “lecture-recitals” in the Wigmore Hall, London , where he analysed Beethoven piano sonatas before playing them.

Here is what he has to say about the Waldstein. Click on the image to listen to the lecture.

Personally I find his way of lecturing very charming, his way of talking is gentle and softspoken, it gives the impression that he is more or less improvising, although I am sure that his lecture has been prepared in details, with some little jokes every now and then. Very informative, just give it a try.

Of course he talks in this lecture about the second movement of the Waldstein. Beethoven had originally written a different one, but when he played the sonata for his friends, they objected, that it didn’t fit with the other two movements. Apparently Beethoven got angry, but he wrote a replacement anyway, calling it an Introduzione, and for me it makes the Waldstein special.

The original second movement, Andante Favori, is often played as an encore. Here you can listen to both, left the original Andante Favori, right the Introduzione. Both played by Schiff, click on the image to listen. If you have not listened to the full sonata, you may be surprised by the ending of the Introduzione. Actually the third movement follows immediately (“attacca”)

Schiff is a versatile musician, not only a pianist, but also a conductor. He looks to me a very amiable person, but not everyone agrees with that, click here for some sever criticism . I may write a separate blog post about him another time 😉

To end this Waldstein blog, here is a special visual recording. Click to watch. Left hand blue, right hand yellow.

And here is the first page of the manuscript for the Waldstein sonata, written down by Beethoven himself.

A few weeks ago I saw on Facebook(!) an announcement of a piano recital at the Malaysian Institute of Arts (MIA) with the intriguing title Bach.. in Other Hands.

The MIA was unknown to me and I had never heard about Massimo Folliero, the pianist who was giving the recital. But I love Bach’s music and in this recital it would be Bach in Other Hands, transcriptions of Bach’s music. I know that transcriptions of his works have been made by other composers, not least by himself. Ten years ago I wrote a post about Bach’s Goldberg Variations and in 2017 one about the Chaconne . Both contain links to transcriptions. But the transcriptions in this recital, except the Busoni one of the Chaconne were new to me.

So I contacted MIA, chatted with Mr Neo, the head of the Music Department, and booked a seat for the recital. Donation RM 80. The City campus of MIA is located next to Dang Wangi LRT station. I live not far from Mutiara Damansara MRT, so I used public transport, changing trains in Pasar Seni, it took me less than 45 minutes. I arrived early, so I could choose a front seat with a good view.

And here is Massimo Folliero. Lots of information about him can be found here .

In preparation for the concert, I had assigned myself some homework, listening to the original versions and comparing them with the transcription. Nowadays almost all (classical) music can be found on YouTube. For each composition I have selected an original and a transcription, just click on the picture to watch the YouTube.

1 Siciliano BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach / Wilhelm Kempff.

The slow movement from Bach’s Flute sonata in E-Flat Major, played by Francely Zurita. The transcription is beautifully played by a very young Evgeny Kissin. Here the transcription, played by Wilhelm Kempff himself in 1955. Compare the two versions! A nice, “easy” start of the recital.

2 Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 543 Johann Sebastian Bach / Franz Liszt

Between1842 and 1850 Franz Liszt transcribed six of Bach’s Preludes and Fugues (BWV 543-548) from solo organ to solo piano. Not familiar with Bach’s organ works (except of course the famous Toccata and Fugue BWV 565), it took me some time to appreciate this BWV 543. Left the original, played by Christoph Bull , right the transcription played by Violetta Khachikyan. My favorite, clear and transparent.

3 5 Organ Preludes 1st book Johann Sebastian Bach / Ferruccio Busoni

In 1898 Busoni published 10 Chorale Preludes, BV B 27, transcriptions of various Chorale Preludes by Bach. A Choral Prelude is a (short) introduction for a hymn , sung by the congregation during a church service . Folliero played 5 of them, here is a very popular one, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 645. Left Willem van Twillert on organ, right Jan Lisiecki on piano.

Interval

During the interval, I walked around a bit and had a look at the art gallery. At first I thought that the table with glasses and bottles was for us to have a drink, but no, it was a work of art. Note the tiny fish in the bottles and glasses ;-).

4 Sheep May Safely Graze” (BWV 208 No. 9) Johann Sebastian Bach / Egon Petri

The second half of the recital started with another “easy” piece. BWV 208 is known as the Hunting Cantata. written by Bach for vocalists and instrumentalists. The aria, sung here by Ellen McAteer, is for a soprano, two recorders and continuo. The transcription by Egon Petri is played by Benjamin Hochman. Beautiful music, but in this case for me the original wins.

Prelude and Fugue in B minor BWV 548 Johann Sebastian Bach / Franz Liszt

When I studied the recital program on Facebook , it said that after the interval another Prelude and Fugue, BWV 548 would be played. Considered by many as one of Bach’s masterworks for organ. It took me quite some time to get familiar with the complicated, intricate structure of this “two-movement symphony for organ“. Played on organ by Sebastian Heindl. Fascinating to see this young man playing, watch his pedaling. The Liszt transcription is played admirably by Alicia Juan. Transparent and clear.

5 Prelude and Fugue in B minor BWV 544 Johann Sebastian Bach / Franz Liszt

When Folliero started playing it came as a bit of a shock, the musique was not familiar to me. I had a look at the program leaflet, he was playing BWV 544! After the concert I asked him why and he told me that 548 in the Facebook announcement was actually a mistake, it was always the plan to play 544. So, after I came back home, I had some more homework to do and listen to recordings of BWV 544. An “easier” work, compared with 548. Elske te Twillert plays the original on organ and Nenad Radic plays the transcription.

6 Chaconne BWV 1004 Johann Sebastian Bach / Ferruccio Busoni

The recital ended with the Busoni transcription of the famous Chaconne , the final part of Bach’s Partita in D minor for solo violin. As mentioned above, I have written a blog post about the Chaconne and its many transcriptions. Of course there are many recordings available, I have chosen here an old one (1971), as a homage to Jascha Heifetz. And there are also numerous recordings of the Busoni transcription, I have chosen the recording by Hélène Grimaud.

It was a beautiful finale of an interesting concert. The pianist joined the audience after the recital and was willing to have his picture taken. With the students, some of whom he had been teaching in the days before the concert. And with a few seniors 😉

I took a few short recordings of the recital, but the acoustics of the hall are not good enough to share them here. On YouTube I found a video of Folliero , playing in Bangalore. Just to give you an impression.

In May 2020 I wrote a post An opera and some history, about the opera L’Ottavia restituita al Trono by Domenico Scarlatti. When I was looking for information about this opera, I came across the opera Agrippina by Handel. Handel was born in1685, in the same year as Scarlatti, and he composed this opera in 1709 while he was staying in Italy. It was a huge success, got into oblivion later, but is now considered one of Handel’s major operas.

Agrippina (AD 15 – 59) was the wife of Roman emperor Claudius (10 BC –AD 54) and mother (from an earlier marriage) of emperor Nero (AD 37 –  68). Claudius died by poisoning, with probably his wife Agrippina as the instigator. Nero became the next emperor AD 54, 17 year old. At that time he was married to Octavia (AD 39 or 40 – 62), but the marriage was an unhappy one and soon he got mistresses. One of them was Poppaea (AD 30 – 65), married to his friend Otho (AD 32 – 69) who would become emperor after Nero’s suicide.

Probably everybody knows about the reputation of Nero. He killed his mother Agrippina AD 59 (22 yo) and a few years later he divorced Octavia and got her killed AD 62 (25 yo). He forced Otho to divorce Poppaea and exiled him to Lusitania (present day ~ Portugal). He married Poppaea AD 62. When se was pregnant AD 65, he caused her death.

It was a tumultuous period in the Roman Empire.

The Italian composer Monteverdi created in 1643 the opera L’incoronazione di Poppea (The coronation of Poppaea). Nero, Poppaea, Octavia and Otho are the main characters in his opera. The libretto uses the historical facts reasonably well, although with some artistic freedom. Otho loves Poppaea, but she prefers Nero and Nero prefers her above his wife Octavia. The opera ends with Otho and Octavia being exiled and Nero marrying Poppaea.

Scarlatti twists the historical facts. In his opera. Octavia has been exiled, but comes back to Rome, disguised as a shepherdess, to take revenge on Poppaea. Because the Roman people support her (historically true), Nero finally accepts Octavia back, although he still loves Poppaea. Otho doesn’t appear in this opera.

In Agrippina the main characters are Agrippina, Nero, Claudius, Otho and Poppaea. In the libretto of this opera the historical facts are distorted beyond recognition and I find it surprising that in the reviews of this opera hardly any attention is paid to the discrepancies.

The opera starts with Agrippina receiving the news that Claudius has drowned in a storm while at sea. Immediately she starts plotting to have her son Nero as the next emperor. She tells him: . “del quinto lustro oggi al confin sei giunto” which literally translates as “you have reached the border of your fifth lustrum today“. It took me some time to decipher this, the start of your fifth lustrum is when you turn 20. As Nero was born on 15 December AD 37, this gives an exact date of this conversation between Agrippina and Nero, 15 December AD 57.

Why do I pay so much attention to dates? Well, Claudius died AD 54 (possibly poisoned by Agrippina) and Nero was already Roman emperor from that time on. His friend (!) Otho was actually married to Poppaea at that time, she divorced him AD 58 only. Nero himself is still married to Octavia and divorced her AD 59.

So the story of the opera is completely fake. Keep that in mind when you read the following synopsis.

After receiving the news about the death of Claudius, Agrippina starts her scheming by asking Pallas and Narcissus to support Nero. In the opera they are both in love with Agrippina and provide the comic relief in the story. Historically, they were important figures in Claudius’ court. Pallas and Agrippina may have been lovers, but Narcissus was very loyal to Claudius and was murdered in AD 54, at about the same time as Claudius. Another fake element in the opera.

When Nero is about to be crowned emperor, Lesbus, a servant of Claudius enters and announces that Claudius did not drown, but was rescued by Otho, the commander of the army. Big commotion. Otho enters and tells that Claudius in gratitude will resign and make him the new emperor Privately he tells Agrippina that his love for Poppaea is more important for him than becoming emperor.

This gives Agrippina the opportunity for another plot. She knows that both Claudius and Nero are in love with Poppaea and tells Poppaea that Otho has promised Claudius that he will leave Poppaea to him, if he can become emperor. .Of course Poppaea is upset. Agrippina advises her to tell Claudius that Otho has forbidder her to see him, hoping to make the emperor so angry that he will take back his promise to Otho

When Poppaea meets Claudius she does as suggested by Agrippina. Claudius is furious and when he meets the others, he is full of praise, but calls Otho suddenly a traitor. Agrippina, Poppaea, everybody deserts Otho after this. Left alone he sings a lament, one of the most beautiful arias composed by Handel. Listen to Voi che udite il mio lamento, sung by countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński.

Poppaea, can not really believe that Otho has forsaken her for the throne and meets him in a garden. Soon it becomes clear that Agrippina has been plotting and Poppaea wants to take revenge. She asks Otho to come to her rooms later, Lesbus enters to tell her that Claudius wants to visit her in her rooms, next Nero meets her, she also invites him to her rooms.

Follows a hilarious scene in Poppaea’s rooms. First Otto arrives, she asks him to hide. Next comes Nero, also asked to hide, When finally Claudius has arrived, she tells him that it was actually Nero and not Otho who told her she should not meet Claudius. He can not believe her, but is convinced when she calls Nero out of his hiding.

Claudius is now confused who is lying and who is speaking the truth. He asks everybody to tell their story.. When Poppaea tells that Nero was in her rooms, he takes a decision, Nero will marry Poppaea and he will keep his promise that Otho will become emperor! Everybody unhappy 😉 When Otho refuses the crown, he reverses his decision: Otho can marry Poppaea and Nero will become emperor. Everybody happy.

All is well that ends well

In this synopsis I have omitted many details of the various subplots. As this review says: The plot of Agrippina is convoluted, even by operatic standards. I found it very informative to read the libretto (English translation). Before I mention the various YouTube recordings of Agrippina, a few comments about the libretto.

• The libretto contains a huge amount of recitatives. The text file contains ~ 3000 lines, of which ~ 2400 are recitative. All recordings I have watched skip parts of the recitative here and there.
• This opera has an unusual large number of “asides”, speech of a character, meant for the audience, not for the other persons on stage. Agrippina has 108 of them, they are an essential part of the story.

I have found many video recordings of Agrippina on YouTube, in this blog I will mention a few of them. I will give the link, a few screenshots and some comments.

I will start with the most recent one, a Swedish production, premiered in January 2023 and only visible on YouTube until July 2023.

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2023

It is the most authentic prodcution I have found. The opera is performed in a theater that dates back to the 18th century. The men are dressed in Roman togas, the ladies in period dresses.An empty stage, no props, hardly any action. Here are a few screenshots

The opening scene of the opera, Agrippina has geven Nero the letter about Claudius’ death.

Claudius praises the others but calls Otho a traitor. Notice that Otho is played by a mezzo-soprano (a trouser role). Actually it follows the premiere in 1709, where Nero and Narcissus were sung by castrati, but Otho by a mezzo.

Poppaea takes her revenge. Nero, thinking that Cl;audius has left, jumps out of his hiding

The final scene. In the original libretto the goddess Juno appears at the end and gives the love couple her blessing. Modern productions skip this finale

I liked this recording very much, although some of you may find it too static. Here is another extreme, a 2016 production by Robert Carsen, a famous opera director. Full of action, with many extras (non-singing actors). Personally I think this production is way over the top and distorts the essence of the libretto.

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2016

The opening scene. Nero, still in pyamas is watchting TV before Agrippina gives him the letter.

Agrippina asks Pallas and Narcissus , both in love with her, to support Nero. Later she will reward them. A grotesque mise-en-scene. Left Pallas, right Narcissus.

When Claudius arrives, video cameras record him. He praises everybody, but calls Otho a traitor

In the libretto Poppaea meets Otho and later Nero in a garden (“with a fountain”).. Carsen changes the garden to a fitness club with a pool. Hilarious but also ridiculous. Left Poppaea feigning to sleep when Otho enters. Right Nero jumps out of the pool.

The libretto places the next scene in Agrippina’s rooms, where she meets Pallas, Narcissus and Claudius and still tries to promote her son Nero. In this production the action takes place in the same fitness club, which makes no sense at all. Agrippina meets Pallas, gets a massage from Narcissus and his friends and convinces Claudius that Neo should become emperor.

Poppaea’s room. Nero has been hiding behind the sofa, when he thinks that Claudius has left, he jumps up and mistakenly tries to make love with Claudius.

The final scene of the opera, added by Carsen. Nero is laughing hysterically, while both Agrippina amd Poppaea have been killed. No comment 😉

After this extravaganza it is a relief to watch the 2018 production by Ars Lyrica Houston, my favourite. A timeless rendition, no military uniforms, no smartphones, it doesn’t matter that Agrippina is white and Nero black, there is no suggestion of an incestuous relationship between mother and son, Agrippina has only one wish, to make her son emperor.

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2018

The opening scene, Nero reads the letter that Claudius drowned.

Lesbus announces that Claudis is alive and Otho shockes the others when he telss that as a reward he will be the new emperor.

Agrippina lies to Poppaea that Otho leaves her to Claudius and advises her to make Claudius jelaous

Agrippina’s plot works well. Claudius praises everybody but calls Otho a traitor. After all the others despise him, he sings his heartbreaking lament. Click here to listen.

Soon the plot becomes clear and Poppaea is planning revenge, She invites Otho, Nero and Claudius to her rooms. Left: the plot becomses clear. Right: : Poppaea invites Nero to her rooms

Agrippina manages to get a promise from Claudius that Nero will become emperor. Claudius agrees, is actually in a hurry to visit POppaea,

WIth Nero hiding in her rooms, Poppaea explains to Claudius that it was Nero and not Otho who told her not to meet him. Claudius finds this difficult to belief, but is convinced when Nero comes out of hiding, half undressed.

The final scene. First Claudius decides that Nero will marry Poppaea and Otho will become emperor, but he reverses his judgement when everbody is unhappy.

Compare this production with the vulgarity of Carsen! The supporting role of Lesbus is played brillianly. Agrippina not only sings well, it is also a pleasure to see her facial expressions. The many asides fit well in this production. That Poppaea and Otho are slightly drunk when they reconcile is aristice freedom of the director. Really my favorite Agrippina

I will show the other YouTube videos in less detail, in chronological order.

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2004

With Jarousky as Nero. Period costumes and funny wigs. Not convincing. Nero reads the letter (left) and Otho is called a traitor by Claudius.(right)

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2004

All producers like to give a presonal touch to Handel’s opera: “This is MY Agrippina”. Here is the version of Jan Vriend. Nero is sung by a tenor and Otho by a bariton. Two screenshots, one that Nero reads the letter, the other one that Otho is called a traitor by Claudius. Interesting staging ;-).

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2009

Another version, by Hernan Schvartzman. Lots of semi-nudity. A bit weird. The relation between Agrippina and Nero is more than is normal between mother and son. Left : Nero has read the letter. Right: Otho is called a traitor.

I found this production so weird that it deserves an extra screenshot. Claudius is furious after he finds Nero in Poppawa’s room. Why Nero is having angel wings escapes me. The other half-naked boy with angel wings is Amor. Mind you , here is a very positive review of this production. “De gustibus non est disputandum!”

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2018

The stage in this modernist production is a theater hall. Maybe original but not functional. Left: Agrippina hands an ipad(!) to Nero. Right: Claudius calls Otho a traitor

Part of the action takes place underneath (!) the theater hall. Here Nero is litterally exposed to Claudius in Poppaea’s room. Another example of a producer who wants to leave his personal mark on the opera.

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2019

Nero is a punker here and the relation between him and Agrippina is rather incestuous. A miscasting, in my opinion. The rotating installation on stage is not functional. Left: Nero and Agrippina. Right: After Claudius has called Otho a traitor, Pallas and Narcissos physically attack Otho. Ridiculous

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2020

This Metropolitan Opera production is no longer availble on YouTube, only a trailer. Military uniforms, Nero is played by a mezzo in a trouser role and sniffs cocaine. Many extra actors. If you just forget about the original opera, it is an interesting modernist version..

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Epilogue

I started this blog about four months ago. Of course I have not been working on it daily, and often I just was listening to the various YouTube versions. I have not counted the number of “Agrippina” hours, but it must have been a lot. Still the music is not boring at all.

If you disagree with my critical remarks, please leave a comment.

Recently I discovered a YouTube channel Baroque and Beyond, created by someone who in the ABOUT section writes: My channel mostly focuses on Baroque operatic music. You may know by now that I am very interested in Baroque Operas, so I immediately subscribed to this channel. It is a real treasure trove.

One playlist of the channel, containing more than 60 videos, is named Who sings it best? Each video has several recordings of the same aria, sung by different singers. Of course “best” must not be taken seriously, they all are professionals, but it is interesting to compare them, and each music lover will have her/his own preference.

Here are a few of the singers. Top row, from left tp right Max Emanuel Cenčić, Sara Mingardo, Jakub Józef Orliński, and Sonia Prina. Bottom row, from left to right Marijana Mijanovic, Philippe Jaroussky, Nathalie Stutzmann and Franco Fagioli.

What they have in common is that their vocal range is basically the same! The men are countertenors, the women contraltos. Wikipedia gives for both an identical vocal range, two octaves, here marked in green. on a keyboard, the key with a dot is the central C-key.

In Baroque operas, the leading male roles were almost never sung by a tenor or a bass, but generally by a castrato or a contralto in a “trouser role“. As there are no castrati anymore, countertenors have taken their place. That is why in many of the Who Sings It Best videos you can listen to a mixture of countertenors and contraltos.

Here is an example, Who sings Vivaldi’s “Vedrò con mio diletto” best?, sung by two countertenors, two contraltos and one mezzo-soprano. In the opera .Il Giustino (1724) the emperor Anastasius sings this aria as a love song for his wife Ariadne. Wouldn’t you expect a tenor to play this role?

In Handel’s opera Rodelinda (1725) the role of king Bertarido was originally sung by an alto castrato. His famous aria “Dove sei, amato bene” is a love song for his wife Rodelinda. In Who sings Händel’s “Dove sei, amato bene” best? it is sung by five countertenors. If you like contrasts, listen also to this recording by mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne. Not my favourite 😉

Here is an aria from another Handel opera, Oreste (1734). The opera is a so-called “pasticcio” in which Handel assembled arias from his earlier operas into a new one. In this case the story of Orestes and his sister Iphigeneia. In 1734 Orestes was sung by a famous castrato. In Who sings Händel’s “Agitato da fiere tempeste” best? , the aria is sung by three countertenors and two contraltos, from left to right Orlinski, Mingardo, Stutzmann, Jaroussky and Fagioli.

Finally here is an aria sung by another king in Vivaldi’s opera Farnace (1727) , Farnace, King of Pontus, has been defeated by the Romans and commands his wife to kill their son, so he will not fall in the hands of the victors. No love song, but a tragic aria, originally sung by a contralto en travesti. Here are the lyrics of the aria, in an English translation.

Cold in every vein
I feel the blood flow
The shadow of the lifeless son
I am filled with terror

And for my greater pain
I see I was cruel
To an innocent soul
At the heart of my heart

In Who sings Vivaldi’s “Gelido in ogni vena” best? this beautiful aria is performed by two countertenors, a contralto, a mezzo-sorano, a soprano and even a tenor!. Compare which recording you prefer.

Actually the best recording (in my opinion) is not in this list. Listen to Countertenor Christopher Lowrey. Absolutely breathtaking, it gives me goosebumps.

I will end this blog with a few Who Sings It Best videos that don’t fit in the countertenor/contralto category.. For a variety of reasons.

In Who sings Porpora’s “Torbido intorno al core” best? Two countertenors and a contralto sing an aria from Porpora’s opera Meride e Selinunte (1727) , But here they sing an aria of Ericlea, a female!. In those days the modern concept of gender identity probably was not yet developed ;-). Porpora was famous in his days,, see my blog Countertenors and Castrati, for more info about him..

Then there is Who sings Vivaldi’s “Armatae face et anguibus” best?, The aria is from Vivaldi’s oratorio Juditah Triumphans (1717), performed in this video by sopranos and mezzos, but in the libretto the aria is sung by Vagaus, a eunuch! He sings this furious aria when he discovers that Juditha has murdered his master Holoferenes in his sleep. The Who Sings it Best videos are actually audios. Watch here the fury of Cecilia Bartoli in a real video.

And finally Who sings Vivaldi’s “Cum dederit” best? Vivaldi composed Nisi Dominus between 1703 and 1739. Not an opera and Cum Dederit is not an aria. Sung in the video by four countertenors and two mezzo-sopranos. Surprisingly the best recording (again in my opinion) is left out! Watch here Andreas Scholl

In my blog post Rinaldo I wrote in the final paragraph: “Actually I am not a real opera fan. Many of the famous operas (by Verdi, Wagner, Puccini etc) do not appeal to me. But I love Baroque operas (and of course Mozart),”

In 2018 I wrote a blog post about Mozart’s first opera, Apollo et Hyacinthus, composed in 1767 when he was 11 year old. In this post I will write about his last opera, La Clemenza di Tito, composed a few months before his death in December 1791.

Probably most of you will have seen the movie Amadeus (1984), one of the greatest films of all time. The movie was not meant to be historically correct and obviously is not. A fascinating, accurate description of Mozart’s last year can be found in this report: Mozart’s final year and death – 1791. Worthwhile to read it.

The Clemency of (Roman emperor) Titus was a popular topic for operas in the 18th century, after Metastasio wrote the libretto in 1734. Here is a list with more than forty (!) composers who used the libretto for their version of La Clemenza di Tito. I found two recordings on YouTube , one by Antonio Caldera (1734) and one by Christoph Willibald Gluck {1752).

In 1790 the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II died. He plays an important and often hilarious role in the movie Amadeus and I can not resist the temptation to show here a scene from the movie.(click on the image).

Joseph’s younger brother Leopold II succeeded him as Roman Holy Emperor, King of Hungary and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria. The coronation as King of Bohemia took place on 6 September in Prague and Mozart was commissioned to write an opera for the occasion, based on Metastasio’s libretto.

Mozart accepted the commission although he was very busy with Die Zauberflöte and the Requiem and managed to write the opera in about two weeks time . Metastasio’s libretto was modified by court poet Mazzolà and condensed into two acts. The première was not a success and for a long time this traditional opera seria was considered a kind of failure, compared with Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflöte. It is only during the last thirty years that a re-assessment has taken place. Here is a very informative article: La Clemenza  di Tito: Mozart’s Operatic Failure?

After this introduction, i will write separate paragraphs about the historical background of the opera, its structure and some of the modern performances.

Historical background

In 69 CE Roman emperor Nero died. A chaotic succession struggle followed with four emperors in that year, Galba (killed), Otho (suicide), Vitellius (killed) and finally Vespasianus. When Vespasianus died in 79, his son Titus (39-81) became Roman emperor.

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He had been married twice. and was in a controversial relationship with Berenice, a Jewish princess, when he became emperor. He was a fair, benevolent ruler. During his short reign he became popular for his generosity after the eruption of the Vesuvius and a big fire in Rome. He also completed the Colosseum. His reign was short, after only two years he died of a fever.

Structure of the opera

The opera is only vaguely related to Roman history. It is set in 79 CE, just after the eruption of Vesuvius. There are six roles.

1. Titus, Roman emperor: tenor
2. Vitellia, daughter of the deposed emperor Vitellius :soprano
3. Sextus , a young man, friend of Tito and deeply in love with Vitellia : castrato
4. Servilia, the sister of Sextus : soprano
5. Annius, close friend of Sextus and in love with Servilia: soprano (en travesti)
6. Publius , the commander of the Pretorian guard : bass

The opera consists of two acts. Mazzolà’s libretto can be found here (Italian and English). Here is a synopsis.

Act 1

Vitellia is furious that Titus is planning to marry Berenice, urges Sextus to kill Titus, but takes this back when Annius tells that Titus will send Berenice home. Sextus and Annius meet Titus who tells them that he will take Servilia as his bride. Vitellia is furious again and persuades Sextus, who this time leaves to kill (his friend!)Titus. Servilia tells Titus that she loves Annius and Titus then decides to take Vitellia instead as his bride. When Vitellia hears this, she is upset, but it is too late, Rome is burning already and according to Sextus, Titus has perished.

Act 2

Annius tells Sextus that Titus is still alive. Sextus is relieved, confesses that he has betrayed Titus and wants to leave the country. Annius convinces him to stay and hope for leniency from Titus. Vitellia urges him to flee, but Sextus tells her that he will never betray her. Then Publius arrests Sextus, he has mistakenly wounded Lentulus, who was dressed as emperor , but has survived the attack. The Senate will judge him. Titus can not believe that Sextus is guilty. But Sextus has confessed and the Senate has condemned him. Titus hesitates to sign the verdict and wants to see Sextus first. Sextus, to protect Vitellia, doesn’t explain his action. Titus signs, then tears the judgment. Annius and Servilia plead with Vitellia to ask Titus for clemency..Vitellia decides to confess. Before Titus can pardon Sextus, Vitellia tells Titus that she was the main conspirator. Titus is shocked, but then decides to pardon everybody.

It is quite interesting to compare this synopsis with the original one by Metastasio. .There the first act ends with Publius telling Vitellia that she will become the new empress. It is only in Act 2 that the fire and uproar occur with Sextus confessing that he is responsible. This act is full of drama. Here is one example: Sextus is wearing a blood-stained cloak with a red ribbon, so other conspirators can recognise each other. After Annius tells him that Titus is alive, he convinces Sextus to visit the emperor and ask for leniency. They exchange their cloaks. When later Annius meets Titus, the red ribbon is seen and Annius is arrested, only to be released after Publius tells that Lentulus has identified Sextus as the attacker.. The act ends with Sextus being led away and Vitellia worried that her guilt will be revealed soon.

In my opinion the Metastasio “story” is more interesting than the Mazzolà one. But musically Mazzola did a good job, Mozart praised him that the libretto had been “reworked into a true opera” The Metastasio libretto is a series of recitatives and arias, Mazzolà adds trio’s ,duets and even a sextet at the end of the opera, where all six singers take part.

Performances

When the commission for La Clemenza was given to Mozart, it was stipulated that the opera should contain roles for two famous Italian singers in those days, a prima donna soprano and a castrato. It resulted in Vitellia and Sextus. In the original libretto also Annius was sung by a castrato. The stage may have looked like this:

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Nowadays we don’t have castrati anymore (see my blog Countertenors and Castrati) ,the roles of both young men are usually sung by (mezzo)sopranos.

I have found a number of recordings on YouTube and selected a few for this blog, The earliest one is the film version (1980) of a performance by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (1969), when La Clemenza di Tito was still virtually unknown. The video quality is not perfect, but acceptable.. The mise-en scene is traditional, classical surroundings, although the costumes are more 18th century than Roman. In the picture Servilia is telling Tito that she is in love with Annius. Publius watches. When you click on the picture, you can listen to the YouTube. When you are not familiar with this opera, it is a good introduction, because the video has English subtitles.

In Harnoncourt’s version (2003) the setting is a nondescript apartment building (car park?) and the costumes are modern. I am not a fan of this kind of approach. In the screenshot Sextus meets Titus and Publius after he has been arrested. Maybe useful to mention that Titus is standing at the right. Click on the picture for the opera.

Here is the version of Colin Davis in 2011. The screenshot shows the quintet at the end of Act 1. Rome is burning, Sextus is almost confessing that he killed Titus, Vitellia stops him. Servilia, Publius and Annius watch, shocked by the disaster. Subtitles in French.

And yes, the screenshot below is also from La Clemenza di Tito! The 2017 version by Sellars, where Tito has been mortally wounded and talks with Sextus on his deathbed. When I first watched the video, I was stunned and considered writing a blog “The rape of an opera ” Click on the picture, watch the opera and probably/hopefully you will be stunned as well..

Sellars tweaks the story beyond recognition, from the start until the end. During the ouverture, before the opera even starts, Titus picks Sextus from the crowd and “couples” him to Vitellia. But Sextus is a close friend of Tito and deeply in love with Vitellia., his emotional struggle between his love for Titis and for Vitellia is an essential part of the opera.

Sellars introduces at 56:47 an intermezzo in act 1 where Sextus is being prepared to become a suicide bomber. A terrorist instead of a traitor! The music played is not from the opera, but from Adagio and fugue in C minor, K. 546 ! Sellars does this 5 more times, at 22:07 , 38:03, 1:20:18 , 1:47:27 (parts from the Mass in C minor, K. 427) and at 2:38:12 after the opera has ended (Maurerische Trauermusik K. 477)

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Here is a screenshot of the quintet at the end of act 1. Rome is burning the singers lament and Sextus almost confesses. In front of them lies Titus, mortally wounded by Sextus.

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One last screenshot of the sextet at the end of Act 2. Titus has forgiven everybody and takes his last breath, singing in full force : Cut short, eternal gods, cut short my days on that day when the good of Rome ceases to be my care. To be honest, I found it a bit hilarious.

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It can not be denied that the Sellars version is visually and musically spectacular. But personally I still think that it is unacceptable what he has been doing.

Let me finish this blog with some remarks about the roles of Sextus and Annius, originally sung by castrati. In modern recordings they are usually sung by (mezzo)sopranos. It means that the two love couples are sung by four female voices. In my opinion Sextus and Annius should be sung by countertenors or sopranistas. I know of only one YouTube recording where Sextus is sung by a countertenor, a 2021 (!) performance in Bergen. Sextus sings here the aria Parto, ma tu ben mio (I go, but, my dearest,..), probably the most famous aria from the opera.

The aria is so famous that it has often been recorded separately. I will give a few examples. Here is a recording from the Sellars version. The aria is accompanied by a basset clarinet and Sellars had the brilliant idea to make it a duet on stage between Sextus and the clarinet player. Click on the screenshot for the video. Fascinating. Sung by Marianne Crebassa, dressed as a man, but still very obviously a lady.

Here is the same aria sung by Kangmin Justin Kim , a young South Korean countertenor.

And here is a recording of the aria sung by Bruno de Sá, a male soprano/countertenor.

As last one here is Cecilia Bartoli. No attempt to cross-dress 😉 I am a fan of her.

For many years La Clemenza di Tito has been a favourite Mozart opera of mine. For this blog I have been listening numerous times to the various recordings. Never boring, it is still a favourite.

Late in 1710 Georg Friedrich Händel arrived in London. A few months later, on 24 February 1711, his opera Rinaldo had its premiere, one day before his 26th birthday. It was a great success, he decided to stay in England, dropped the umlaut in his name and became a naturalised Englishman in 1727,

Here are two portraits of Handel, left circa 1710, right around 1726

I got interested in Handel’s operas, when I was writing a blog about the only opera written by Domenico Scarlatti in 1703, An opera and some history. The history part is about Roman emperor Nero and his mistress Poppaea. History was a popular subject for operas in those days and a few years later Handel wrote his first major opera Agrippina (Nero’s mother). Premiere was in December 1709 in Venice, it was very successful and established the international reputation of 24 year old Handel. Many YouTube recordings exist, here is my favourite (click on the image to watch the recording).

Rinaldo also has a historical background, the First Crusade (1096-1099) The objective of this religious war was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic rule. In 1591 the Italian poet Torquato Tasso wrote an epic and romantic poem Gerusalemme liberata about the liberation of Jerusalem. It is epic, containing 1917 stanzas of 8 lines each. And also romantic, the historical background is mixed with several love stories.

The story of Rinaldo and Armida is the most famous one. Rinaldo is a handsome brave crusader knight and Armida a powerful witch, trying to destroy the Christian army. When she meets a sleeping Rinaldo and wants to kill him, she falls in love with the young man and absconds him to her magical island. Rinaldo becomes her willing prisoner and falls in love with her as well. The army sends two friends, Carlo and Ubaldo, to remind him of his duty. Finally they convince Rinaldo to abandon Armida and come back to the war.

Not surprisingly it became a favourite subject for artists. The left painting shows Armida, dagger in her hand, falling in love. The middle one shows a lovesick Rinaldo with Armida on her island and in the right painting the two soldiers have convinced Rinaldo to come back, the boat is waiting already..

If you think that this introduction will make the opera (written in Italian) easier to understand, you are wrong. The story is tweaked completely. Yes, Goffredo is the leader of the Christian army and Rinaldo is the heroic warrior. But the opera gives Goffredo a daughter, Almirena, who will become Rinaldo’s bride after the war is won. And the witch Armida is the queen of Damascus in a love relationship with Argante, the king of Jerusalem. Here is a synopsis of the opera , taken from the very informative website opera-arias.com.

ACT I

The Christian army, led by Goffredo, is besieging the city of Jerusalem. If the city is taken, then the Christian warrior Rinaldo will be free to marry Goffredo’s daughter Almirena.
In an audience with Goffredo, Argante, the king of Jerusalem, is granted a three-day halt to hostilities. The sorceress Armida, queen of Damascus, descends from the skies and tells her lover Argante that their only hope of victory is the destruction of Rinaldo.
As Rinaldo and Almirena express their love for each other, Armida snatches Almirena away. Goffredo and his brother Eustazio discover the distraught Rinaldo. Eustazio suggests seeking the help of a Christian sorcerer who lives in a cave at the foot of a mountain.

ACT II

Goffredo, Eustazio and Rinaldo are wandering the seashore searching for the sorcerer when a spirit lures Rinaldo on board a ship by claiming to be sent by Almirena.
In a garden of Armida’s palace garden, Argante reveals his love for Almirena and offers to help her, but she repulses him.
When Rinaldo arrives, Armida’s initial triumph over him turns to love, but she is rejected. Armida transforms herself into the guise of Almirena, but Rinaldo again rejects her, fleeing when he discovers her trickery.
Armida again disguises herself as Almirena, but this time Argante enters and inadvertently reveals his feeIings for Almirena. Armida is outraged and swears revenge.

ACT III

Goffredo and Eustazio approach the mountain with Armida’s palace at its summit and the sorcerer’s cave at its foot. The sorcerer tells them that Almirena and Rinaldo are held by Armida, and the two warriors set off with two magic wands as protection.
Armida is about to stab Almirena, but Rinaldo rushes to protect her. Goffredo and Eustazio enter and with their wands transform the enchanted garden into a desert. Armida disappears. Argante attempts to rally his generals, and he and Armida are reconciled.
Battle commences, the Christians prevail and the two lovers are reunited. Argante and Armida are captured and, realizing the error of their ways, embrace the Christian faith.

You will agree that this “strange” plot has no resemblance to Tasso’s story of Rinaldo and Armida. Actually this plot was written by Aaron Hill, at that time the manager of the Queen’s Theatre in Hay Market, He was of the same age as Handel and wanted a “hit” for his theatre. Italian opera was becoming popular in London, famous Italian singers were available and his theatre could provide spectacular effects. Giacomo Rossi translated the libretto in Italian and Handel wrote the music. Rinaldo was the result. . All this within a couple of months (or even weeks, although that may be anecdotal) !

A copy of the original Rinaldo “booklet” still exists and is fascinating reading. It contains the text of the opera, both in Italian and in English and has a foreword written by Hill. Here is the foreword. Notice how Hill defends the changes in Tasso’s original story and argues that an opera should give equal pleasure to both senses.

Here is the cast of the first performance. The roles of Rinaldo , Eustazio were sung by castrati, while the part of Goffredo was sung by a female contralto (in travesty). All singers were Italian, the two castrati were so famous that they had nicknames, Niccolini and Valentini. The two sopranos were also prima donnas (and bitter rivals).

Name	Role	Voice	Singer
Goffredo	leader of the First Crusade	contralto (en travesti)	Francesca Vanini-Boschi
Rinaldo	a nobleman of the House of Este	alto castrato	Nicolò Grimaldi (“Nicolini”)
Almirena	daughter of Goffredo	soprano	Isabella Girardeau
Eustazio	brother to Goffredo	alto castrato	Valentino Urbani (“Valentini”)
Argante	Saracen king of Jerusalem	bass	Giuseppe Boschi
Armida	Queen of Damascus, Argante’s mistress	soprano	Elisabetta Pilotti-Schiavonetti
Mago	a Christian magician	alto castrato	Giuseppe Cassani

It must have been a spectacular performance. The libretto contains very detailed stage instructions. Here are a few from ACT III, where Goffredo and Eustazio arrive at the cave of the Mago.

Notice in how much detail the stage is described. A mountain rising from the front of the stage to the utmost height of the most backward part of the stage. Rocks , caves and waterfalls. A castle on top,” guarded by a great number of spirits“. The audience must have been gasping in awe.

The Mago warns them that they can not attack the castle without his help, but still they try. And fail. Many soldiers are swallowed by the mountain, “with thunder, lightning and amazing noises“.

The Mago gives them magical wands and that helps. When they touch the gate of the castle, the whole mountain disappears and Goffredo and Eustazio find them selves clinging to a rock in the middle of a sea.

No wonder that the opera was a success. In the period until 1711-1717 it was performed 47 times, more than any other opera in the Queen’s theatre, Handel revised the opera in 1731, it was also performed abroad a few times but soon it went into oblivion. Only more than 200 year later, in 1954, there was a performance during a Handel festival in Germany. More about the performance history here.

On YouTube I have found only three complete video recordings of Rinaldo. Here is a short description of them.

The first one is a performance in Prague, directed by Václav Luks in 2009. Here is a screenshot , click on it to watch the opera. For me the least attractive of the three that I have seen. In the first place the cast. Of course there are no more castrati nowadays, but the parts of Rinaldo and Eustazio are sung here by mezzo-sopranos instead of by countertenors. Goffredo too is sung by a mezzo-soprano and not by a contralto. The mise-en-scène is very static, the singers face the audience almost permanently, only move a lot their hands and fingers. Here is a (rather negative) review. The YouTube has French subtitles, which makes it easier to follow the plot.

In 1985 Pier Luigi Pizzi directed the 1731 version of Rinaldo which became quite popular and was repeated several times. Here is a screenshot from the 2012 performance in Ravenna, click on the image to watch the opera. The role of Eustazio has been deleted, Goffredo is sung by a tenor and Rinaldo by a mezzo-soprano. The screenshot shows Goffredo, Almirena and Rinaldo. For reasons unclear to me, Almirena and Rinaldo are dressed almost identically. I found the mise-en-scene weird, the singers don’t walk around themselves but are moved by invisible helpers while seated on a horse, sitting in a boat or standing on a platform. No subtitles. Here is a critical review.

The first time I listened to Rinaldo, was on YouTube, an audio recording of a 2002 performance directed by René Jacobs. Very positive reviews. There is another audio recording , 1999, directed by Christopher Hogwood. Both still available as audio-CD.

I got interested how the opera was staged and found a video recording of a 2001 performance in Munich, by the Bayerische Staatsoper. It was on YouTube for some time, then it disappeared, probably because of copyright issues. Now it is back again, but for how long?

What an absurd, crazy mise-en-scène, was my first reaction. But I have changed my opinion, after reading the libretto and watching the other recordings. Yes, It is a parody of the original plot. But the plot deserves that. Example: in Act III, after the crusaders have won the battle of Jerusalem, Argante and Armida unexpectedly decide to become Christian. That Goffredo often changes his dress into a clerical robe fits into an implausible plot. There are many slapstick elements in this version, making Rinaldo a pleasure for the ears AND the eyes (as was Aaron Hill’s origina intention)

Here are screenshots from the three YouTube videos, click to watch. Subtitles in English,

Act I From left to right Rinaldo, Goffredo and Eustazio (all three countertenors) and Almirena as a cheerleader (!), encouraging Rinaldo to fight

Act II In her magic castle Armida tries to seduce Rinaldo. She tries twice to take the form of Almirena. The right wall, with a cardboard figure and a gap in the wall is used in a really brilliant way to confuse Rinaldo.

Act III The Christian magician (countertenor, cast as a voodoo priest) has given Goffredo and Eustazio magic wands to enter the enchanted castle.

In Act III the battle takes place between the two armies. In Hill’s stage directions there are soldiers and Handel wrote martial music to be played during the fighting. The solution found in this modern performance is inventive and ingenious, a real pleasure for the eyes.

Not surprisingly this performance received mixed reviews .. You either love or hate this “camp” version. It is clear that I love it 😉 .

Actually I am not a real opera fan. Many of the famous operas (by Verdi, Wagner, Puccini etc) do not appeal to me. But I love Baroque operas (and of course Mozart), Handel was a prolific composer, he wrote 42 operas, I have listened to only a few of them. So there still will be a lot of beautiful music to enjoy!