Alessandro STRADELLA (1639-1682)
San Giovanni Crisostomo
Arianna Venditelli - Eudosia; Nora Tabbush (soprano) - Consigliere); Filippo
Mineccia (alto) - Inviato di Roma; Luca Cervoni (tenor) - Testo; Teofilo;
Matteo Bellotto (bass) - Cristostomo
Ensemble Mare Nostrum/Andrea De Carlo
rec. 6-9 September 2014, Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista, Sacrofano (Rome),
Italy. DDD
ARCANA A389 [69:31]
The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom is an important
part of the liturgy of the Russian Orthodox Church. John Chrysostom is one
of the main early church fathers and is honoured as a saint in the Eastern
Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches. "He is known for his preaching
and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical
and political leaders", according to Wikipedia.
That aspect also comes to the fore in the conflict which is the subject of
the oratorio San Giovanni Crisostomo by Alessandro Stradella. It
takes us to the time when John Chrysostom was archbishop of Constantinople.
He criticized the extravagances of Aelia Eudoxia, wife of Emperor Arcadius,
who had her statue erected in the Augustaion, near the archbishop's
cathedral. John denounced the pagan dedication ceremonies and compared her
to Herodias, the daughter of King Herod who asked him to give her the head
of John the Baptist. This resulted in his exile.
This oratorio is surrounded by mysteries. It is not known when it was written
nor when or where it was first performed. Luca Della Libera, in his liner-notes,
suggests a connection with the papacy of Innocent XI (1676-1689). His namesake
Innocent I was the pope who came to John Chrysostom's defence and sent
missions to Constantinople. No separate copy of the libretto has been found
and as a result we don't know who was its author. As the manuscript
of Stradella's oratorio only mentions John Chrysostom and Eudoxia explicitly
the identity of the other characters has to be deduced from the story. In
the libretto in the booklet these are italicized. The first recitative - scored
for tenor - is given to a testo, a role which appears in most oratorios
by Carissimi and his immediate successors in this genre. One could compare
it with the role of the Evangelist in Bach's Passions. However, here
this character doesn't play any part during the oratorio and only returns
at the end; there it is surprisingly given to the second soprano. It is assumed
that in the other recitatives and arias the tenor represents Theophilus, Patriarch
of Alexandria who was a firm opponent of John Chrysostom and is portrayed
in the oratorio as a slavish follower of Eudoxia. The role of the alto is
identified here with an envoy from Rome (Inviato di Roma), sent by Pope Innocent
I. The minor characters cannot be identified; some of the duets - for instance
the one that opens the work - are given to Eudoxia's counsellors.
One could divide Italian oratorios of the late 17th and early 18th centuries
into two categories. Some were written for performance during Lent and - although
they could take different subjects from the Bible or the lives of saints -
conclude with a reference to the Passion of Christ. Others have a more general
edifying character and reflect the ideals of the Counter-Reformation. The
present oratorio belongs to the latter category. It is a musical representation
of the moral message of John Chrysostom. This is summed up in the recitative
which closes the piece: "In vain do the godless hope that the cloak of
royalty will serve them as a shield against extreme misfortune: God is not
unwilling to strike monarchs down".
The fact that the oratorio ends with a recitative is quite surprising. There
are more remarkable things here. The scoring is for five voices - which was
common at the time - and these were also to sing the choruses. However, in
this oratorio we find only one very short chorus. The other ensembles are
duets and trios. Moreover, the instrumental scoring is confined to basso continuo;
there are no parts for strings. Most arias are rather short and only a handful
show early forms of the da capo which was to become the standard
in later oratorios. Those were also increasingly close to opera. That is not
the case here: this work is not really dramatic. When Eudoxia decides to send
John Chrysostom into exile we don't hear a direct dramatic confrontation
between the two. This oratorio is basically the account of a dispute between
two characters of strongly opposing moral convictions. In addition to the
conversations between Eudoxia and John Chrysostom we hear dialogues between
their respective followers: the views of the former are supported by Theophilus,
those of the latter by the envoy from Rome.
Stradella was one of the main Italian composers of his time and his music
was in great demand. This oratorio attests to his skills, for instance in
his depiction of textual elements and the use of harmony for expressive reasons.
Luca Della Libera gives various examples in his excellent liner-notes. A couple
of observations should suffice. In the duet 'La morte n'addita'
(18) John Chrysostom and the envoy sing different texts but in the last section
the latter sings the text which was first sung by John, which evidences support
for his case. Their duet 'Alme ree' (20) ends with the words
"silences truth" which is graphically illustrated by the harmony.
Chromaticism and dissonants are used for the words "sorrow, boredom and
tears" in the trio 'Al tuo merto' (38). Since there are
no instruments to illustrate elements in the text with melodic phrases expression
completely depends on the vocal parts. This oratorio shows that Stradella
was a brilliant composer for the voice.
This is pretty much an ideal performance. Andrea De Carlo has brought together
a fine team of soloists who show a good feeling for Stradella's idiom.
They explore its expressive and dramatic features without exaggerating them.
After all, this is no opera. However, it is important that there is a good
interaction between the protagonists, and that is certainly the case here.
There is no incessant vibrato and as a result the voices blend perfectly in
the duets and trios and in the only chorus. The soloists receive fine support
from the basso continuo group which plays with rhythmic flair.
In short, this is an outstanding production, and I hope that these performers
will take care of further compositions by Stradella. There is still much to
discover in his large output.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
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