This unusual program of rarely heard works, one of them only recently discovered and attributed to Francesco Provenzale (1624-1704), provides unexpected pleasure both for the elegant, stylish music and for the top-notch performances by a very talented group of Italian singers and instrumentalists. We don’t usually get the chance to hear polychoral music from Naples–it tends to be overshadowed by earlier achievements in Venice and Rome–but here are several entries that can claim sufficient substance and musical interest to command our attention, even if they are not on the grand scale of more familiar works in the genre by the Gabrielis or Monteverdi.
Nevertheless, there are many beautiful and remarkably expressive moments in Provenzale’s Pange lingua and in the Mass by Cristofaro Caresana. My favorites include the smooth-textured, tenderly meditative “Tantum ergo Sacramentum” of the Pange lingua, accompanied by sweetly caressing strings, the softly-lit moment suddenly exploding in a wild, rhythmically charged final section. The “Et in terra pax” in Caresana’s Mass is just one of many instances of impressive part-writing, turning simple melodic ideas into memorable, multi-faceted expressions. The following “Laudamus te” builds to a magnificent ending with singers and instruments landing squarely on the full, emphatic, punctuating chords.
Provenzale’s newly-discovered Sacred dialog for the Passion (for soloists, chorus, and instruments) involves the characters of The Father, The Son, A Messenger, Angels, Love, and A Peasant. It contains wonderful music and exhibits the theatrical flair of a skilled opera composer. The dialog really gets interesting in the middle, with the Father’s florid aria expressing both rage and deep parental love for the Son, ardently answered by the latter, followed by a tender duet. The drama is tightly written, the action is relatively swift, the interaction between the characters–and the attendant melodic material–is masterful and lovely. The flow is ideally maintained by these terrific performers, whose engaging energy and artistic conviction really show that this little gem deserves to be called a “masterpiece”, as the note writer asserts.
Soprano Emanuela Galli, who sings the “role” of the Son, shines throughout, but especially brightly in her aria “Non ridete, piagge liete” (Smile no more, happy slopes) and in the following “Prati voi” (You meadows…). The other singers range from first-rate–tenor Rosario Totaro and bass Giuseppe Naviglio, whose Peasant is a highlight of the disc–to perfectly fine. The clear, detailed, natural, well-balanced sound complements music and performances that should be experienced by vocal music fans–especially those who haven’t enjoyed a real treat in a while.
