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Domenico
CIMAROSA (1749-1801) Dixit Dominus (1797)
Cinzia
Rissone (soprano), Sylvia Rottensteiner (mezzo), Gregory
Bonfatti (tenor), I Musici Cantori Choir, Trento,
Voci Roveretane, Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento/Fabio
Pirona
rec. 12-15 April 2003, Haydn Auditorium, Bozen
Text and translation included CPO 999 988-2 [54:20]
Psalm
110 - of which the opening words in the Vulgate are Dixit
Dominus Dominomeo - is a kind of oracular or
prophetic blessing which envisages the Davidic king
sitting at the very right hand of God, acting explicitly
on God’s behalf, and active both
as successful military leader and priest. Though somewhat
enigmatic in places, the seven verses of the Psalm express
a substantial vision of power. Calvin, in his commentary
on the Psalms, wrote that “in this
psalm David sets forth the perpetuity of Christ’s reign,
and the eternity of his priesthood; and, in the first place,
he affirms, That God conferred upon Christ supreme dominion,
combined with invincible power, with which he either conquers
all his enemies, or compels them to submit to him”. If
one thinks of the great musical settings of the Dixit
Dominus – by Monteverdi, Vivaldi and Handel, for example – there
is some sense of that all-encompassing power. There is
little of it in this setting by Cimarosa; which is not
to say that it is bad, but that it embodies a slighter,
narrower response to the text and a different notion of
the sacred.
Most
of Cimarosa’s sacred works belong to his early years; but
this setting was written only a few years before his death.
It may be worth remembering that also in the 1790s Cimarosa
was outspoken in his support of the principles of the French
Revolution. Indeed he composed ‘A Patriotic Hymn for the
Burning of the Portraits of Tyrants’ as part of his sympathy
for the antiroyalist movement that led to the establishment
of the Parthenopean Republic. His sentiments were hardly
those of orthodox Neapolitan Catholic piety and after December
1799, when the King and conservative elements regained
control of the city he was first imprisoned, then sentenced
to death and finally exiled. His ideas about the power
of kings were probably less than fully in harmony with
at least the superficial implications of Psalm 110 and
we shouldn’t, I think, expect the work to be a work of
profound spirituality … is that found anywhere in Cimarosa?
What
we get is a work steeped in Cimarosa’s operatic experience,
but conventionally ‘sacred’ in form. Thus we get to hear
all the musical forces at beginning and end of the work,
and in between soloists alternate with chorus. The music
is, unsurprisingly, very well put together; there are plenty
of enticing melodies and the whole has considerable charm.
But compared to the great settings of the same Psalm it
lacks both profundity and real grandeur of conception.
Still, take it on its own terms and there is much to enjoy.
All
three of the soloists get their chances in the limelight,
and all three prove to be very decent singers indeed, thoroughly
at home in the idiom, if not exactly overwhelming. The
tenor Gregory Bonfatti, a man who has turned up in secondary
roles on more than a few significant opera sets in recent
years, sings very attractively in the ‘Dominis a dextris
tuis’, and certainly reminds us (appropriately enough in
this context) of his operatic pedigree. The duet between
Cinzia Rizzone and Sylvia Rottensteiner in the setting
of ‘Virgam virtutis’ is delightful, the interplay of voices
very elegant. Rizzone, in particular, sounds like a very
accomplished singer.
The
Haydn Orchestra di Bolzano e Trento, which plays on modern
instruments, was founded in 1960. It has something of a
reputation for playing neglected or forgotten repertoire – indeed
it gave the first modern performance of this very piece,
discovered in manuscript in the library of the San Pietro
a Majella Conservatory in Naples. The orchestra is certainly
a very competent group of musicians and, under the baton
of Fabio Pirona, makes its own substantial contribution
to a pleasant disc which - for all its real enough pleasures
- is likely to remain the preserve of specialists.
Glyn Pursglove
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