This post forms the middle bit of a Porpora sandwich. Back in September (which feels ages ago now!) I covered Ncolai Porpora’s Iphigenie in Aulide at Bayreuth Baroque with Christophe Rousset conducting Les Talens Lyriques (review on the Opera Now section of the Gramophone website). This Friday (September 6, the date of this post!), I will cover Porpora’s Polofemo at Versailles; in the middle, a Bluray of L’Angelica, from Festival Della Valle d’Itria Martina Franca.
Italy’s Martina Franca is known for its opera festival, but here it is not strictly an opera, but a “serenata,” on display, first performed in the home of Antonio Carmine Caracciolo, Prince of Torella, in celebration of the birthday of he Empress Elisabeth Christine (wife of Charles VI).
Nicola Porpora (1686-1768) was sone of the few members of the ‘Neapolitan School’ to actually be born in Naples, Porpora wrote L’Angelica, a serenata for six voices and instruments, to a libretto by the young Pietro Metastasio in 1720. The work’s success was immediate, resulting in the commissioning of further works that would lead to ever more glamorous successes for Porpora in Venice, London, Dresden and Vienna.
Here’s a trailer for this production:
Some of Porpora’s writing sounds distinctly Handelian, from the Act One Sinfonia to the pair of oboes in Angelica’s aria, “La tortura innocente”. Porpora uses woodwind imaginatively: a pair of flutes garnish shepherdess Licori’s aria, “Ombre amene” deliciously, a dark moment of great poignancy. That part is taken by the deliciously named Gaia Petrone (her voice is lustrous like molten chocolate, and yet she still remains within Porpora’s stylistic boundaries). A pair of oboes enliven her later Part One aria, “Non so come is possa”.
Here’s that opening Sinfonia:
… and here’s “Ombre amene”:
Porpora’s L’Angelica is based on Orlando Furioso, with a libretto by Metastasio; the setting here in Martina Franca is around a lavish banquet table, with a semi-transparent panel at the back which can act as a separator between lovers (designs are by Gianluca Falaschi, who also directs).
Ekaterina Bakanova is a fabulous Angelica, her first aria, “Mentre rende a te la vita,” lyrical and flowing and truly touching, tastefully decorated in its A1 section.:
It is Medoro who is loved by Angelica, a trouser role sung by Paolo Valentina Molinari; the aria mentioned above, “La tortura innocente,” is a model of style; the two come together in the only even vaguely ensemble number in the first part, the final duet, “Se infida tu mi chiami”. The table is used as a distancing element here (although the video juxtaposes them at times, rather surprisingly: it’s a but like going back to teh split screens of the 1970s/80s American soaps!). Molinari’s aria “Quell’umidetto ciglio” from Part Two is a model of style and grace.
Baritone Sergio Foresti is a strong Titiro (try “Felle chi sa sperar”); and although he is a baritone, there is a distinct bass tinge to his voice which lends it natural authority. Licori is shepherdess to Tirsi’s shepherd, Tirsi given an impassioned reading by soprano Barbara Massaro in another trouser role (the original interpreter was one Carlo Broschi, otherwise known as “Farinelli”). Her voice is miraculously free in “Auando ritorni al fonte,”; and the make-up department deserve a medal as she is one of the most convincing males played by a female I have seen (contrast what you see on -screen with the photos on her website!). Her Part Two aria, “Non giova il sospira” is no less spectacular (her vocal staccato superb, her vocal scale perfectly articulated).
Teresa Iervolino has featured a number of times on Classical Explorer and impressed in every one. We saw her as Ismene in Salieri’s Armida, in Pappano’s performance of Rossini’s Messs di Gloria, and in Rousset’s performance of Mozart’s Betulia Liberata. As Orlando, her “Dal mio bel sol lonbtano” is a miracle of heart-rending expression, although her aria towards he end of the first part (as this is a Serenata, there are parts, not acts) “Vanne felice rio” sags somewhat in energy (this despite the rather interesting onstage arrival of two human “horses” that interact with the character throughout. There’s also an unexplained fish in the Serenata’s second part!):
The end of the opera is truly touching. Porpora puts the focus on Medora’s “Bella diva,” an aria that stops time (and Molinari is transfixing):
The orchestra is fabulous throughout, shining in in the Sinfonias that launch each part. So much energy here under Gianluca Falaschi’s direction: the Part Two Sinfonia revels in hunting tropes, and the horns have a ball (as do the answering oboes); while it is the strings that come to the fore in the late Part Two aria of Tirsi, “Il pie s’allontana”:
The edition used here is by Raffaele Pe and La Lira di Orfeo using two manuscripts, on in London’s British Library, the other in the Österreichische Nationalbibliotek (Austria). This video is taken from a live performances in July and August 2021.
The term “Serenata” might imply something light and short, but in fact the run time here is 147 minutes, plenty of time to immerse oneself in Porpora’s delicious world. It was the Bayreuth Iphigenie that really turned me on.to Porpora, and this continues the trend; although to be entirely accurate there was one track prior to Iphigenie that acted as a big hint: Ann Hallenberg with Les Talens Lyriques and Rousset singing “Alto Giove” which, other neatly, comes from Polifemo. This is an unforgettable performance:
Porpora’s L’Angelica is a wonderful piece, full of invention. Here is the Amazon link to the Bluray; here is the Amazon link to the CD incarnation, with streaming links for that below.
