Par VAN DER BEEK WIL. AVIGNON (Arr. ) / Niveau : Intermédiaire / Opéras, opéras comiques, opérettes / Répertoire / Conducteur

The surviving second and third acts of Catone in Utica, one of Metastasio's most dramatic libretti, premiered in Verona in the spring of 1737 in a setting by Vivaldi, contain some of his finest, most mature, and most original arias, and are published here for the first time. They evince a potential dramatic intensity that makes us regret all the more the loss of the first act. Only one aria of Act I can be definitely recovered from a surviving opera, but the rest has now also been successfully reconstructed by Alessandro Ciccolini, whose intimate knowledge of Vivaldi's working methods, combined with brilliant stylistic insight won universal acclaim for his work on Vivaldi's Motezuma and Ercole sul Termodoonte. Ciccolini has also composed cadenzas and da capo variations for all the arias, published here in an appendix.A complete recording under the direction of Alan Curtis is available from Naïve Records(OP30545).Press Quotes:'[For his completion,] Alessandro Ciccolini, who, mindful that Vivaldi frequently adapted vocal music for his instrumental works and vice versa, has composed the missing passages using themes from the concertos as his starting point. His arias dovetail beautifully with Vivaldi's scheme of things...' The Guardian'Ciccolini and Curtis deserve enormous credit for transforming an incomplete obscurity into a coherent and compelling opera.'Gramophone'The opera survives incomplete, but this is a fascinating and apt reconstruction and there is some marvellous stuff here.' BBC Music Magazine / Conducteur

Par ARNOLD MALCOLM. Hugo Cole says '. . .a serious and substantial work. . .The slow movement, based on a dramatic unison, reminds us that Berlioz is one of Arnold's favourite composers. With the art that conceals art, Arnold makes us forget the limitations of the medium, and exploits these players' particular skills in ways that make it seem as though the skills must have been acquired to do justice to the piece'. The Guardian, 10th July 1979 / Niveau : Assez Facile / Répertoire / Conducteur

King Arthur (Arr. Laurie). Par PURCELL HENRY. King Arthur was the only one of Purcell's professionally produced operas to have been designed as a semi-opera - the others were all adaptations of earlier plays. Dryden made a real attempt to integrate the music into the drama, but since he ascribed to the dramatic conventions of the period which virtually confined music to allegorical or supernatural beings and thier worshippers, or servants, shepherds and similar characters, the main action mostly occurs in the spoken sections, and even the two singing characters, Philidel and Grimbald speak more than they sing. / Niveau : Intermédiaire / Rép Classique / Répertoire / Conducteur