Composer: George Frideric Handel, Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, Nicola Antonio Porpora, Luigi Rossi, Bernardo Sabadini, Agostino Steffani
Performer: Giulia Semenzato
Orchestra: Basel Chamber Orchestra
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Alpha
Catalogue: ALPHA830
Release: 2022
Size: 1 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Rossi: Il palazzo incantato, ovvero La guerriera amante
01. Si tocchi tamburo
02. Sol per breve momento
Porpora: L’Angelica
03. Mentre rendo a te la vita
04. Costante e fedele
05. Sabadini: Mi vedrà più fiera in campo (from Angelica nel Catai)
06. Steffani: Se t’eclissi o bella face (from Orlando generoso)
07. Handel: Non potra (from Orlando)
08. Pollarolo: Quella man che mi condanna (from Ariodante)
09. Handel: Volate, amori (from Ariodante)
10. Handel: Mi restano le lagrime (from Alcina)
11. Handel: Desterò dall’empia dite (from Amadigi di Gaula)
Giulia Semenzato, already renowned for her interpretations of the Baroque repertory and her Mozartian roles, presents here her first solo album. The programme, entitled Angelica diabolica, is devoted to the female protagonists of Ludovico Ariosto, author of the epic poem Orlando furioso, whose emblematic figure is Angelica, a revolutionary heroine, ready to resort to any trick in order to regain her freedom. After the Baroque Rome of Luigi Rossi and his opera Il palazzo incantato (1642), we turn to the galant style of Naples with Nicola Porpora’s serenata Angelica (1720), then to Milan in 1702 with the warlike heroine of Bernardo Sabadini’s opera Angelica nel Catai, before a more melancholy take on the character by Agostino Steffani (1691). These rare numbers rub shoulders with more familiar arias by George Frideric Handel, sung by the heroines of his operas Orlando, Ariodante, Amadigi di Gaula, not to mention the famous enchantress Alcina. Alongside the Kammerorchester Basel, Giulia Semenzato deploys all her virtuosity, vocal agility and feeling for words to slip into the shoes of these women, by turns angelic and diabolical.