Italian Baroque composer Alessandro Stradella (1639-1682) is known for his dramatic life, whose watchwords were sex and violence; he was stabbed to death, right under the nose of his bodyguard, by assassins sent out by the husband of a nobleman whose wife he had seduced. His music is just beginning to enter general circulation, and it's as exciting as one might imagine, with plenty of vocal acrobatics to challenge even the best singers. The "serenade" featured on this Italian release, Vola, vola in altri petti (Fly, fly to ...
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Italian Baroque composer Alessandro Stradella (1639-1682) is known for his dramatic life, whose watchwords were sex and violence; he was stabbed to death, right under the nose of his bodyguard, by assassins sent out by the husband of a nobleman whose wife he had seduced. His music is just beginning to enter general circulation, and it's as exciting as one might imagine, with plenty of vocal acrobatics to challenge even the best singers. The "serenade" featured on this Italian release, Vola, vola in altri petti (Fly, fly to other hearts), is a work for four singers, about 40 minutes long; it contains recitatives and arias, along with an opening instrumental sinfonia and a dance interlude. Conceived as part of an evening's entertainment at a nobleman's palace, it is really a dialogic poem rather than a work with a plot. A shepherdess, Filla (Phyllis, a soprano), meets a swain named Silvio (a countertenor), and the two discover that they have both been wronged in love and plot revenge. At this point, two...
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