Emilio de CAVALIERI (c.1550-1602)
Rappresentatione di anima et di corpo, per recitar cantando, dramma in 1 prologo e 3 atti in collaborazione con Padre Agostino Manni (Rome 1600)
Marie-Claude Chappuis (mezzo) - Anima
Johannes Weisser (baritone) - Corpo
Gyula Orendt (bass-baritone) - Tempo, Consiglio
Mark Milhofer (tenor) - Inteletto, Piacere
Marcos Fink (bass-baritone) - Mondo, Secondo Compagno di Piacere, Anima dannata
Chor der Staatsoper, Berlin
Concerto Vocale
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin/René Jacobs
rec. May 2014, Teldex Studio, Berlin. DDD.
CD booklet includes texts and translations
Reviewed as 24-bit download with pdf booklet; also available as mp3 and 16-bit lossless
HARMONIA MUNDI HMC902200/1 [38:16 + 54:34]
Comparative version:
• Alpha ALPHA065 L’Arpeggiata/Christina Pluhar (rec. 2004) – reviewed
as download from eclassical.com
(mp3 and lossless, NO booklet) and as streamed from Qobuz
(with pdf booklet).
When Cavalieri composed his Representation of the Soul and Body, there was
no word to describe it: opera still meant someone’s written works,
and music performed in Filippo Neri’s Rome oratory still had not come to be
known as oratorio, hence the elaborate and wordy title. Music historians
sometimes compromise by calling it a sacred opera or staged oratorio, which
begs many questions, including the truth of Cavalieri’s own insistence that
he beat both Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini to the draw in composing the first
opera. Peri composed La Dafne in 1597, but his and Caccini’s Euridice,
both of 1600, are the earliest extant examples of the form. You’ll find my
thoughts on recordings of both in
DL Roundup February 2012/2 (Caccini and Peri) and DL
News 2014/4 (Caccini)
Those pioneers in 1600 didn’t have to invent the form from scratch: the Intermedii
known collectively as La Pellegrina, performed at a Medici wedding
in 1589, to which Cavalieri, Caccini and Peri all contributed, had established
the form of music drama, albeit on a smaller scale. The recording of the
Intermedii featuring Emma Kirkby, Emily van Evera, Tessa Bonner and
Nigel Rogers and directed by Andrew Parrott (mid-price Virgin/Erato 6026842)
in its original EMI Reflexe format remains a prized CD in my collection.
There’s a more recent and more complete recording, directed by Skip Sempé
on the Paradizo label (PA0004), which I hope to investigate.
Don’t expect too much in the way of drama from any opera or dramatic oratorio
before Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (1607) and you won’t be disappointed by
Rappresentatione in either of the enjoyable recordings in question:
there’s also an earlier Naxos recording, now apparently download only, which
didn’t much excite the reviewers in 1999. The various dialogues between representatives
of body, soul, time, etc., are rather formal, much in the stylised manner
of morality plays such as Everyman, but the music is colourful and
the various instrumental interludes which Cavalieri specifies but didn’t provide
add variety.
Cavalieri was still finding his way in this work, but many of the features
of mature opera are present – there’s even an echo effect in the Second Act
where the soul enquires of Heaven what virtues the body should pursue and
receives as answer a reflection of the last words of each question: Ama
il mondan piacer l’huom saggio o fugge? … Fugge. (Do the wise love worldly
pleasure or flee from it? … Flee from it.)
All the vocal roles on both recordings are very well performed. The major
part falls to L’Anima and it’s no surprise that Johanette Zomer (Alpha), whom
I’ve praised on several occasions, is superb. This is my first encounter
with Marie-Claude Chappuis who sings the part for René Jacobs, but she too
is very impressive, though like Jacobs’ other soloists, she isn’t a baroque
specialist. Emma Kirkby established an ideal voice type for the music of
the period, not least on that recording of La Pellegrina. Zomer is
a singer in the Kirkby tradition; the deeper-voiced Chappuis, who normally
sings mezzo roles, has a more rounded tone.
Cavalieri did not provide the interludes, so Pluhar (Alpha) and Jacobs (Harmonia
Mundi) select appropriate pieces from contemporary composers such as Susato,
Merula and Schein. Both recordings select appropriately and on both the instrumental
playing, both in the interludes and less overtly in accompanying the singers,
is first-rate.
There’s very little to choose between these two recordings. If I say that
Christina Pluhar plays the music a little more straightforwardly and René
Jacobs pushes the boat out a little more and beefs up the instrumentation,
don’t take either of those statements too literally. Certainly the instrumentation
emerges less brass-dominated, more upholstered, than from Pluhar, though Jacobs
is not afraid to employ some strident brass in places. Jacobs has previous
form in this work, having performed it with much the same cast in a staged
version at the Schiller Theater in 2012. I don’t know when the YouTube
posting was recorded – presumably not then, as it’s a concert performance
– at any rate it should give you a good idea of what to expect. There’s a
performance by another group on YouTube
– a decent version but it shows the superiority of the Jacobs.
Jacobs begins with a Sinfonia by Schein, the choral introduction in
praise of God, O Signor santo e vero, then, like the Naxos recording,
includes the rather tedious spoken prologue between Avveduto (sagacious)
and Prudentio (prudent). I think Pluhar wise to omit the prologue
and go straight from the opening Sinfonia and Intermedio (from
Tielman Susato) to Tempo’s (Time’s) Il tempo fugge, Act I, scene
i. On the other hand, I’m not sure why she also chose to omit the opening
chorus.
I listened to both recordings in lossless sound from eclassical.com. Both
are good but audiophiles should note that the Harmonia Mundi comes in 24-bit
format. That was briefly available for the same price as 16-bit and mp3.
Such short-term offers are worth looking out for: they are too briefly available
to point out in reviews but the 24-bit is worth paying a little extra for
– usually it’s still competitive with the price of the equivalent CD. The
new recording also comes with the booklet; for the booklet with the Alpha
recording you need to turn to Qobuz (link above); even Naxos Music Library
and classicsonline.com, normally reliable in the provision of booklets, are
no help on this occasion.
Rappresentatione is rather short to spread over two CDs so the new
Harmonia Mundi is on sale for a little over the price of a single disc. You
should also be able to find the Alpha recording for less than the cost of
two full-price CDs. eclassical.com’s per-second pricing policy reduces the
price of both even further, but the lack of booklet and texts with the eclassical
download of the Alpha recording is a serious problem.
Both René Jacobs and Christina Pluhar make the music attractive and both effectively
convey the variety, from intimate to ceremonial, very effectively. Both are
well recorded and both are well documented. Even if you download the Alpha
without booklet, eclassical.com make the Harmonia Mundi booklet available
to all comers. Though I lean slightly towards the new Jacobs recording with
its more varied instrumentation, it’s a close call. If you enjoy baroque
opera, you should at least try this very persuasive recording of one of the
earliest examples.
Brian Wilson
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