FRANCESCO BARTOLOMEO CONTI (1682-1732)

David

 

CD 1    

Parte Prima

1          Sinfonia                                                                                              

2          Recitativo Micol, diletta sposa David, Micol                                        

3          Aria Al genitor mio Re Micol                                                   

4          Recitativo Né t’inganna il tuo amor Gionata, David                

5          Aria Quale augellino al monte David                                       

6          Recitativo S’io t’ami, il sai Gionata, David, Micol

            Recitativo accompagnato Eccelso Dio, che scorgi David

            Recitativo Quasi al partir di lui Micol, Gionata                                    

7          Aria Contra un padre ingiusto e crudo Gionata                                              

8          Recitativo È sì vile in Saul dunque un comando Saul                         

9          Aria Stringe Iddio l’ultrice spada Saul                                                           

10        Recitativo Signor, so per lung’uso Abner, Saul                                              

11        Aria Ah! Mio Re, pallida invidia Abner                                                

12        Recitativo David è scelta tua Abner, Saul, Gionata                             

13        Aria Perché pecchi ingiustamente Gionata                                         

14        Recitativo Dunque a David io debbo lo scettro? Saul, Gionata, Micol, Abner  

15        Aria O rendimi pietoso Micol

16        Recitativo Non più. Già cedo Saul, Micol, Gionata, Abner

            Recitativo accompagnato Tu Dio, in cui man son de’ regnanti i cori Micol

            Recitativo O troppo in sen di Re mobili affetti! Falti   

17        Aria Agiterò la face Falti

18        Recitativo Tanto si faccia cautamente e presto Falti  

19        Coro Cor sano è vita delle carni          

Parte Seconda

20        Coro Le rose di Gerico

21        Recitativo O figlie di Sion David, Gionata       

 

CD 2    

1          Aria Giusto prezzo a iniquità! David   

2          Recitativo Piaccia al Ciel Gionata, David         

3          Aria Caro amico, sì caro mi sei Gionata          

4          Recitativo Quanto nell’uomo, che invecchiò in mal uso Abner           

5          Aria Al fianco anzi vorrei Abner         

6          Recitativo Ite a David in traccia Falti, Abner  

7          Aria Non so se al sussurrar magiche note Falti          

8          Recitativo Vecchio costume degl’iniqui è questo Abner, Falti

9          Recitativo accompagnato Lasciatemi a me stesso Saul          

10        Preludio          

11        Recitativo accompagnato Quanto mirabil si dilata David        

12        Aria Quanto mirabile David     

13        Recitativo accompagnato Più non resisto Saul

            Recitativo O Dio, sempre rifugio mio David, Falti, Abner, Saul

14        Aria Padre, ascolta... Micol     

15        Recitativo Sopra il mio sposo sta implacabil mostro Micol, Gionata, David   

16        Aria Dì al mio Re che per lui sono David        

17        Recitativo Dov’è? Dov’è l’iniquo? Saul, Gionata, Falti

18        Aria A passo di gigante Saul   

19        Recitativo Signor, siamo delusi Falti, Saul, Gionata, Micol

20        Recitativo accompagnato Me lo spirto di Dio visita ancora Saul        

21        Coro finale Anche Saul è tra’ profeti?

 

Alan Curtis & Il Complesso Barocco

 

David                Marijana Mijanovic (contralto)

Micol                 Simone Kermes (soprano)

Saul                  Furio Zanasi (baritone)

Gionata             Birgit Christensen (soprano)

Abner                Sonia Prina (contralto)

Falti                  Vito Priante (baritone)

 

(Azione sacra in 2 acts, Libretto by Apostolo Zeno, First performance at the Royal Chapel, Vienna 1724)

 

With their new recording on Virgin Classics Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco unearth yet more Baroque gems - this time both a composer and a work.

 

Francesco Bartolomeo Conti was born in Florence in 1681, though his professional life was spent at the Viennese court of Charles VI. Conti was a virtuoso theorbist and composer and between 1714 and 1725 provided most of the operas for the Viennese carnival season, mostly to librettos by Pariati and Apostolo Zeno. Zeno was responsible for the libretto of the oratorio (or “Azione sacra” sacred drama) David, first performed in 1724.

 

David tells the story of David and Saul, covering very much the same ground as Handel’s magnificent Saul written fifteen years later. The tenor role of Saul in Conti’s work was taken by Francesco Borosini, who later sang for Handel in London and Alan Curtis speculates that Borosini may have shown the libretto to Handel. Certainly Handel, like Conti, includes the scene where David tries to calm Saul’s rage with a harp (in both works, David’s harp is represented by a theorbo), and Saul’s subsequent attempt to kill David with his javelin. Such comparisons were also made in Handel’s day.

 

David is a masterly work, highly dramatic and musically inventive. It is not clear to what extent it would have been acted, but Alan Curtis’ performances in Florence in 2003 were staged with costumes and were probably the first performances of Conti’s music in his home city in more than two hundred years. This studio recording uses Alan Curtis’ own edition of the score, which has been published by Novello.

 

Virgin Classics 2cds 3788772