Haydn's operas lag substantially behind the rest of his output in terms of popularity. It wasn't that he was disinclined to write for voices, as anyone who has heard his late choral masterpieces will testify. More likely, the problem is that the formally simple, melodically oriented language of serious opera in his time offered little scope for an essentially comic musical thinker who traded in the foiling of formal expectations. Orlando Paladino, one of his few comic vocal works, would seem to avoid this difficulty, but it ...
Read More
Haydn's operas lag substantially behind the rest of his output in terms of popularity. It wasn't that he was disinclined to write for voices, as anyone who has heard his late choral masterpieces will testify. More likely, the problem is that the formally simple, melodically oriented language of serious opera in his time offered little scope for an essentially comic musical thinker who traded in the foiling of formal expectations. Orlando Paladino, one of his few comic vocal works, would seem to avoid this difficulty, but it has frustrated audiences with its bizarre plot, a mixture of comic and serious elements in which passion suddenly devolves into broad farce. The opera even bears the subtitle of "dramma eroicomico," or heroic-comic drama.This recording by the veteran historical-instrument conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt and his Concentus Musicus Wien sorts things out on several levels. The booklet makes clear that the libretto's roots are in Lodovico Ariosto's fanciful epic poem "Orlando furioso," a...
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Size: 5x4x0; brand new in original shrinkwrap; because we care that your order arrives in the condition stated, we have additionally sealed the case in bubblewrap for added protection during shipment.
