The name of Italian Baroque composer
Alessandro Stradella
(1643-1682) is hardly known to general listeners, even Baroque fans. This is a shame, for his eventful life would be ideally suited to cinematic treatment; he survived assassination attempts from relatives of women he had seduced, all except the last one. He originated the concerto grosso and wrote operas and oratorios that were well known to
Handel
, among others. His church music, like that of most other Italian Baroque composers, is little known, and all the pieces here except for the fine bass motet
Exultate in deo fideles
are world premieres. There is another album devoted to
Stradella's motets
, featuring soprano
Sandrine Piau
and countertenor
Gerard Lesne
, but the two albums do not overlap, and one can take one's pick between the excellent singers on both or just listen to both albums. The soloists here are not well known but are quite distinctive; sample the work of soprano
Sonia Tedla
in the solo work
Sistite sedera, coeli motus otiamini
. This genre shows
Stradella
's impressive versatility; there are pieces of various sizes, ranging from solo motets to weighty multi-section five-voice works with operatic dimensions and ambitions. The pieces are performed with one voice per part, which seems reasonable in view of the profusion of impressive solo arias, duos, and trios. Sample the fetching trio "Ad floridum montem" from the motet
In Tribulationibus, in angustiis
.
's writing is highly expressive, with flexible recitatives that, in some cases, approach the arias in melodicism. The instrumental performances by the
Concerto Italiano
under conductor
Rinaldo Alessandrini
have their usual snap, but
Alessandrini
tones down his heavy accents enough to give the expressivity of this music room to breathe. With clear sound from the Parco della Musica auditorium in Rome, this is a major Baroque release. ~ James Manheim