Leonardo Vinci – Artaserse
Radiotelevisione Svizzera; Concerto Köln; Diego Fasolis
Virgin Classics 5099960286925
In 2008 the soprano Simone Kermes recorded Lava,a disc of arias from 18th-century Naples, which included two scenes from Leonardo Vinci’s Artaserse. Since then both Cecilia Bartoli and Karina Gauvin have recorded arias by Vinci and now we have this recording of all of Artaserse. It features a cast of six: five countertenors and one tenor. I heard Alfred Deller, who revived the countertenor voice, in recital 50 years ago and I liked what I heard. All the same, the differences in sheer virtuosity between the early pioneer and modern practitioners like Philippe Jaroussky and Franco Fagioli is staggering.
Artaserse was first performed in Rome in 1730. The performance was truncated, since it coincided with the death of the Pope and, once that death was announced, the performance could not proceed. The opera was, however, revived in Vienna and in a number of Italian opera houses in the 1730s. In the Papal States women were not allowed on the stage and consequently the soprano and mezzo parts were sung by castrati. Where this restriction did not apply female singers like Francesca Cuzzoni and Vittoria Tesi took part in these early revivals.
Brilliant though the singing is on these discs, I found myself longing for a woman’s voice well before the first act was over. We no longer have castrati but the modern practice of combining women’s voices with those of countertenors works well.
