Album

De' Cavalieri's "azione sacra," Rappresentatione de anima et de corpo, was first performed in Rome in 1600, around the time the concept of opera was beginning to evolve, but it's form isn't easy to define. It's dramatic roots lie in allegory of the morality play rather than the narrative tradition that would lead to the development of opera, but it's possible to see it as a transitional work, a link in the innovations that would revolutionize music's relationship to drama in the early seventeenth century. It includes instrumental passages, choruses, recitatives, arias, ensembles, and spoken dialogue. The music, lying between the conventions of the Renaissance and the Baroque, bears a resemblance to Monteverdi's work of that period, but seldom rises to his level of musical invention or psychological insight. It's an intriguing and attractive piece, though, an important documentation of a rich and innovative period in music history. The performance here, recorded in 1968, succeeds fairly well as a straightforward presentation, based on the knowledge of period performance practice of the time, but is somewhat stolid and earthbound in comparison to performances that employ the research done in the last quarter of the twentieth century. The dozens of solo roles are adequately sung, but few stand out; the spoken roles, however, are vividly characterized. The large chorus sounds somewhat murky, but the orchestra is bright and colorful. Edwin Loehrer conducts with a gravity tends to bog the piece down the musical flow. The sound is present, but a little too resonant.

© Stephen Eddins, Rovi

CD 1
Emilio de Cavalieri Composer La rappresentatione di anima e di corpo, musical morality play Work 58:31 Carlo Gaifa Tenor, Annalies Gamper Soprano, Maria Rezzonico Actor, Enrico Bertorelli Actor, Edwin Loehrer Conductor, Sante Rosolen Tenor, Esther Himmler Soprano, Luciana Ticinelli-Fattori Soprano, Laerte Malagutti Baritone, Ruth Binder Alto, Elisabeth Bieger Alto, Maria-Grazia Ferracini Soprano, Società Cameristica di Lugano Chorus/Choir, Vittrio Ottino Actor, Rodolfo Malacarne Tenor, Vittorio Quadrelli Actor, Alfonso Nanni Bass, James Loomis Bass
1	Introduzione. O signor santo e vero	1:48			$0.99
2	Act 1. No.1. Voi che all'aspetto	2:44			$0.99
3	Act 1. No.2. Il tempo fugge	4:17			$0.99
4	Act 1. No.3. Questa vita mortale	1:52			$0.99
5	Act 1. No.4. Ogni cor ama il bene	3:03			$0.99
6	Act 1. No.5. Anima mia che pensi?	6:58			$0.99
7	Act 1. No.6. Il ciel clemente	2:24			$0.99
8	Act 1. No.7. Zwischenaktmusik	2:29			$0.99
9	Act 2. No.8. Benedite il signor	0:25			$0.99
10	Act 2. No.9. La nostra vita in terra	0:48			$0.99
11	Act 2. No.10. O quanti errori	1:00			$0.99
12	Act 2. No.11. Chi gioia	7:54			$1.49
13	Act 2. No.12. Fortissimi guerrieri	0:23			$0.99
14	Act 2. No.13. Altri doman le fiere	0:30			$0.99
15	Act 2. No.14. Io son il mondo	1:04			$0.99
16	Act 2. No.15. Io son la cara vita	2:48			$0.99
17	Act 2. No.16. O miseri amatori	0:35			$0.99
18	Act 2. No.17. Dagli abissi terreni	2:25			$0.99
19	Act 2. No.18. Zwischenaktmusik	1:14			$0.99
20	Act 3. No.19. Salite pural cielo	0:53			$0.99
21	Act 3. No.20. Voi che siete laggiù	1:32			$0.99
22	Act 3. No.21. Anime ch'in ciel godete	2:12			$0.99
23	Act 3. No.22. O gran stupore	0:23			$0.99
24	Act 3. No.23. Alme la pena e il danno	1:30			$0.99
25	Act 3. No.24. Alme beate e belle lassù	1:15			$0.99
26	Act 3. No.25. Ognun faccia sempre bene	0:31			$0.99
27	Act 3. No.26. Ogni lingua ogni core	2:54			$0.99
28	Act 3. No.27. Come cervo assetato	0:49			$0.99
29	Act 3. No.28. Chiostri altissimi e stellati	1:51			$0.99