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Pinchgut Opera’s Hasse – Artaserse (24/48 FLAC)

Pinchgut Opera's Hasse - Artaserse (24/48 FLAC)
Pinchgut Opera’s Hasse – Artaserse (24/48 FLAC)

Composer: Johann Adolph Hasse
Performer: David Hansen, Vivica Genaux, Carlo Vistoli, Andrew Goodwin, Russell Harcourt, Emily Edmonds, Pinchgut Opera
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Antipodes
Conductor: Erin Helyard
Number of Discs: 3
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Pinchgut Opera
Catalogue: PG011
Release: 2020
Size: 1.79 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover

Artaserse
CD 01
01. Sinfonia. Allegro assai – Poco lento
02. Sinfonia. Allegro assai

Act I
Scene 1
03. Addio
04. Conservati fedele

Scene 2
05. O comando! O partenza!
06. Frà cento affanni, e cento palpito

Scene 3
07. Coraggio ò miei pensieri

Scene 4
08. Nò nò, si vada il cenno à rivocar

Scene 5
09. Dove, Principe, dove?
10. Per pietà, bell’idol mio

Scene 6
11. Gran cose io temo
12. Sogna il guerrier le schiere

Scene 7
13. Voi della Persia, voi deità protettrici
14. Bramar di perdere per troppo affetto

Scene 8
15. Dove fuggo? Ove corro?

Scene 9
16. Signore

Scene 10
17. Artaserse respira

Scene 11
18. Arbace è il reo
19. Deh respirar lasciatemi

Scene 12
20. Tu non mi guardi, ò Padre?
21. Non ti son Padre

Scene 13
22. Mà per qual fallo mai
23. Torna innocente

Scene 14
24. E non v’è chi m’uccida?
25. Se al labro mio non credi

CD 02
Scene 15
01. Arbace, Arbace, ah se veder potessi
02. Che pena al mio core

Act II
Scene 1
03. Dal carcere, ò custodi

Scene 2
04. Son quasi in porto

Scene 3
05. I tuoi deboli affetti vinci, Artabano

Scene 4
06. Ahimè che ascolto!
07. Amalo, e se al tuo sguardo

Scene 5
08. Ascolta, ò Megabise
09. Non temer, ch’io mai ti dica

Scene 6
10. Qual serie di sventure
11. Se d’un amor tiranno credei di trionfar

Scene 7
12. A qual di tanti mali prima oppormi
13. Se del fiume altera l’onda tenta uscir

Scene 9
14. Pietà

Scene 10
15. È vana la tua, la mia pietà

Scene 11
16. Tanto in odio alla Persia dunque son’ io
17. Per questo dolce amplesso

Scene 12
18. Ah che al partir d’Arbace
19. Và trà le Selve Ircane, barbaro genitore

CD 03
Scene 15
01. Eccomi al fine in libertà del mio dolor
02. Pallido il sole, torbido il cielo

Act III
Scene 1
03. A funestarti perche vieni
04. Pensa che l’amor mio t’offre la vita

Scene 2
05. Ch’io parta?
06. Parto qual pastorello

Scene 3
07. Figlio, Arbace, ove sei?
08. Spiega i lini, abbandona la sponda

Scene 4
09. Trovaste, avversi Dei, l’unica via
10. Figlio, se più non vivi

Scene 5
11. O che all’uso de’ mali istupidisca il senso

Scene 7
12. Eccola! Oh Dei
13. Tu vuoi ch’io viva, ò cara
14. Sinfonia

Scene 8
15. A voi popoli io m’offro
16. Lucido Dio, per cui l’April fiorisce

Scene 9
17. Al riparo, ò Signor

Scene 10
18. Ferma, ò germano

Scene 11
19. Ecco Arbace, ò Monarca, a’ piedi tuoi
20. Giusto rè, la Persia adora

Based on a libretto by Metastasio already turned into music by more than a hundred composers, this version of Johann Adolph Hasse’s Artaserse comes from the other side of the world. In Sydney, in 2002, Australian conductor and harpsichordist Erin Helyard created the Pinchgut Opera (named after an old prison nearby) and its well-named Orchestra of the Antipodes. The musical ensemble performs operas from the Seventeenth and Eighteenth century. The musicians play with period instruments and their performances could be described as “historically informed.”


In 2019, the orchestra’s production of Hasse’s Artaserse won the International Opera Award in London. It is the first time that particular award was given to an Australian institution. The album is a recording of these performances, an odd opera without any soprano or ensembles, with the exception of a duet and of the final choral piece. Nevertheless, it is still typical of the operas of that time with its long recitatives, its (repeated) aria da capo and a fairly simple plot revolving around conspiracy, betrayal, and light love stories.


Artaserse first opened in 1730 at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo (today, Teatro Malibran) in Venice. The opera was performed by the famous castrato Farinelli, who, at 25 years-old, played the part of Arbace. Artaserse was a huge success. It launched Hasse’s career and made his wife, singer Faustina Bordoni, a Venetian star thus driving Vivaldi, who could feel his popularity getting weaker, to despair. In 1734, the opera was performed in a short and “pasticcio” version at London’s Haymarket where Farinelli, who was performing in London for the first time, sang ten out of the twenty-nine songs. In Sydney, Eran Helyard revives the 1730 version with American mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux as the star. She is surrounded by a top-notch cast while Eran Helyard conducts with precision and liveliness.

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