- Francesco Cavalli (1602 - 1676): Xerse, Act I:
- 1 Cavalli: Xerse, Act I: Sinfonia - Aria. Ombra mai fu - Recitative. Tutti dormiano ancor dell'alba i rai 05:00
- 2 Cavalli: Xerse, Act I: Aria. Caro tetto felice - Recitative. Siam giunti, Elviro - Intendo 02:03
- 3 Cavalli: Xerse, Act I: Aria. O voi - Quest'è Romilda - Qui si canta il mio nome? 05:17
- 4 Cavalli: Xerse, Act I: Aria. Vibra pur, ignudo Arciero - Recitative. Speme m'avviva 02:02
- 5 Cavalli: Xerse, Act I: Aria. Coroniamo d'applausi 00:53
- 6 Cavalli: Xerse, Act I: Recitative. Speri ch'ei sia mio sposo? - Come qui… - Or che senza rival… - Ho inabili - Dove… 09:48
- 7 Cavalli: Xerse, Act I: Aria. Fiamma ch'accesa fu - Recitative. Or ditemi, chi sete? 03:48
- 8 Cavalli: Xerse, Act I: Aria. Già la tromba - Recitative. V'abbraccio, Ariodate 04:33
- 9 Cavalli: Xerse, Act I: Recitative. Queste vittorie - Che fate, ahimè? - Ah principessa 05:09
- 10 Cavalli: Xerse, Act I: Aria. Regie stelle, che fatali - Recitative. Ecco la lettra, Elviro 02:53
- 11 Cavalli: Xerse, Act I: Aria. Innamorato cor - Romilda vostra figlia - Faccia che siate sposa al vostro Xerse 05:50
- Xerse, Act II:
- 12 Cavalli: Xerse, Act II: Aria. Speranze, fermate - Recitative. Argo, ch'avea cent'occhi 05:30
- 13 Cavalli: Xerse, Act II: Aria. Speranze, fuggite - Recitative and Aria. Pur alfin… - Figlio del genio… - Aprasi questo… - Ecco Romilda 10:01
- 14 Cavalli: Xerse, Act II: Aria. L'amerò? Non fia vero - Recitative. Lasciate questo ferro - Chi tel disse? 04:23
- 15 Cavalli: Xerse, Act II: Aria. Sciocco è ben chi crede a femina - Recitative. Arsamene, ove andate? - V'inchino 04:10
- 16 Cavalli: Xerse, Act II: Aria. Voi mi dite che non l'ami 02:53
- 17 Cavalli: Xerse, Act II: Aria. O ben sparsi sudori! - Chi brama di gloria 01:59
- 18 Cavalli: Xerse, Act II: Aria. Morirò: volete più? 02:26
- 19 Cavalli: Xerse, Act II: Recitative. Gran pena è gelosia! - Romilda, e sarà ver ch'al foco mio - A dietro 05:55
- 20 Cavalli: Xerse, Act II: Aria. Amante non è 02:08
- 21 Cavalli: Xerse, Act II: Aria. Beato chi può - Recitative. Lo sguardo lagrimoso - Pur ti trovo, Ariston 04:45
- 22 Cavalli: Xerse, Act II: Aria. Quante son d'amor le pene - Recitative. Ecco Xerse 02:55
- Xerse, Act III:
- 23 Cavalli: Xerse, Act III: Aria. Non mi dir - Recitative. Ahi, scoperto è l'inganno! 06:41
- 24 Cavalli: Xerse, Act III: Duet and Trio. M'amerete? - Recitative. Ecco in segno… - Romilda… - Ubbidirò il mio re? 08:46
- 25 Cavalli: Xerse, Act III: Aria. Dammi, Amor, la libertà - Recitative. Pur conosco Ariston - Come già v'accennammo 03:26
- 26 Cavalli: Xerse, Act III: Aria. O me lieto, o me beato! - Recitative. Mia regina! 03:21
- 27 Cavalli: Xerse, Act III: Lament. Che barbara pietà! - Recitative. Questo foglio a l'iniquo invierò 05:34
- 28 Cavalli: Xerse, Act III: Aria. Va', speranza Recitative. Romilda… - Recitative, Trio and Duet. Ecco lo sposo - Colà sul lito 07:45
- 29 Cavalli: Xerse, Act III: Aria. La donna caduta - Recitative. Dunque fate rifiuto - Sen viene Ariodate - Ecco de l'empia il paggio 06:59
- 30 Cavalli: Xerse, Act III: Recitative. Arsamene è già sposo - Aria. Più rigido che scoglio asprissimo 02:30
- 31 Cavalli: Xerse, Act III: Lament. Lasciatemi morir 04:51
- 32 Cavalli: Xerse, Act III: Recitative. Signor, grazie bastanti - Datelo a me, Signore 06:39
- 33 Cavalli: Xerse, Act III: Umile il cor l'adora e 'l piè l'inchina - Quartet. Amante di me 01:37
Info for Cavalli: Il Xerse
Francesco Cavalli succeeded Monteverdi as the most influential composer of the new genre of opera that emerged in mid-17th-century Venice. Il Xerse is a fictitious dramma per musica that tells of Persian King Xerxes’ love for Romilda, who in turn is in love with his brother Arsamene. The plot is an entertaining and extremely intricate human comedy of crossed loves, court intrigues and disguises – the work’s popularity saw it staged in Paris at the wedding of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Spain. Since overshadowed by Handel’s later Xerxes, this Martina Franca production is the first in modern times.
Carlo Vistoli, countertenor (Xerse)
Ekaterina Protsenko, soprano (Amastre)
Gaia Petrone, mezzo-soprano (Arsamene)
Carolina Lippo, soprano (Romilda)
Dioklea Hoxha, soprano (Adelanta)
Carlo Allemano, tenor (Ariodate)
Nicolò Donini, bass (Aristone)
Nicolò Balducci, countertenor (Periarco)
Aco Bišcevic, tenor (Elviro)
Orchestra Barocca Modo Antiquo
Federico Maria Sardelli, conductor
Carlo Vistoli
began his vocal training with William Matteuzzi and Sonia Prina in 2007 and made his stage debut with Dido & Aeneas in 2012. He received several awards in international singing competitions like the «Farinelli Prize» at the 2012 Città di Bologna Singing Competition or the First Prize at the 2013 «Renata Tebaldi» (Baroque Section) in San Marino.
Chosen for the 2015 edition of “Le Jardin de Voix”, led by William Christie, with whom he collaborates since then, highlights of his career include Giulio Cesare in Egitto by Handel in Shanghai, Dafne by Caldara in Venice, Agrippina by Handel in Brisbane (for which he receives a Helpmann Award), Erismena by Cavalli in Aix-en-Provence with Leonardo García Alarcón. In 2017, he took part to John Eliot Gardiner's project Monteverdi450, that toured internationally.
More recently, he was involved in productions like Vivaldi's Orlando furioso at La Fenice in Venice, Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea at the Salzburg Festival, Artaserse by Hasse in Sydney, La Finta pazza by Sacrati in Dijon with Alarcón, Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck at the Rome Opera with Robert Carsen's staging, Semele by Handel with Gardiner in Paris, London, Milan (Teatro alla Scala). In 2021 he sang in three Handel works: Rinaldo in Losanna, Giulio Cesare in Egitto, debuting the title role, in Basel and Madrid, with Andrea Marcon, and he took part to La Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo at Theater an der Wien (with Antonini and Carsen). Moreover, he sang Pergolesi's Stabat Mater on tour with Cecilia Bartoli and Gianluca Capuano and he made its debut at Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow singing Polinesso in Handel's Ariodante in David Alden's production.
Highlights of the 2021/22 season are two new productions by Damiano Michieletto, Orfeo ed Euridice at Komische Oper Berlin and Giulio Cesare in Egitto at Thêatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris as Tolomeo, conducted by Philippe Jaroussky, in addition to Xerse by Cavalli at Festival della Valle d'Itria in Martina Franca, Ruggiero in Alcina by Handel alongside Cecilia Bartoli in Florence (with Capuano and Michieletto) and, for the first time, Nerone in L'incoronazione di Poppea at Staatsoper Berlin conducted by Jean-Christophe Spinosi, with whom he also sang the title role of Vivaldi's Orlando furioso in concert at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in 2023. In the same year, he is at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in Handel's Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Emmanuelle Haïm, in Alsace in the theater circuit of the Opéra du Rhin singing in L'incoronazione di Poppea, and he comes back to Komische Oper Berlin in Semele.
In 2023/2024 season he will come back at Staatsoper Berlin to sing Farnace in Mozart's Mitridate, he will be again Orfeo in Carsen's production in Valencia; he will also sing the two title roles of Rinaldo and Giulio Cesare, the latter alongside Cecilia Bartoli, on European tour and at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, and he will make his debut at San Francisco Opera emboding Arsace in Händel's Partenope. Furthermore, he will make his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in Giulio Cesare in Egitto and in the season of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, singing Alidoro for the first time in Cesti's Orontea.
He recorded for Alpha, Brilliant, Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Ricercar, Soli Deo Gloria and other labels, and his three first solo recitals have been published by Arcana. His last solo CD is La Lucrezia by Händel and other cantatas, with Le Stagioni and Paolo Zanzu.
Federico Maria Sardelli
In 1984 Federico Maria Sardelli founded the Baroque orchestra Modo Antiquo, with which he appears at major festivals and concert halls throughout Europe as both soloist and conductor. He is regularly invited to the most prestigious European concert halls. Since 2006 he has been principal guest conductor of the Turin Philharmonic Orchestra. He appears as a guest conductor with many symphony orchestras, including the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Staatskapelle Halle, the Kammerakademie Potsdam,the Real Filarmonia de Galicia, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino,the Arena di Verona, the Orchestra da Camera di Mantova, etc.
Federico Maria Sardelli records for Naïve and Deutsche Grammophon. He has made more than forty recordings as soloist and conductor, some of them in co-production with the German broadcast company Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WRD 3). He has twice been nominated for the Grammy Awards, the most prestigious recording prize, and he is one of the top artists of the Vivaldi Edition by Naïve.
Federico Maria Sardelli has been a notable protagonist in the Vivaldi renaissance of the past few years: he conducted the world premiere recording and performance of the operas Arsilda Regina di Ponto, Orlando Furioso, Tito Manlio, Motezuma, and Atenaide.
Alongside his career in the concert hall, he is also extremely active as a musicologist. He is a member of the musicological committee of the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi, and has published many musicological essays and critical editions (he is the author of the study Vivaldi's Music for Flute and Recorder, translated by Michael Talbot and published in the UK by Ashgate). He is general editor of the collection of facsimile editions Vivaldiana and of the Opere Incomplete (SPES, Florence). Peter Ryom has chosen him to be the person in charge of the continuing Vivaldi Catalogue (RV).
For his artistic merits, on 28th november 2009, the Government of Tuscany decorated Federico Maria Sardelli with the Gonfalone d'Argento, the highest medal of honour.
His next book on music is forthcoming: the Catalogue of Vivaldi's musical concordances, by Fondazione G. Cini and Olschki.
Federico Maria is also a painter, engraver and satirical writer, but that is another story.
Booklet for Cavalli: Il Xerse