The second and final part in our mini-series on composers with a criminal record.
Did Scarlatti really kill the poet Bartolomeo Dotti? Johann Rosenmüller was accused of sexually abusing choirboys and Stradella’s involvement in numerous shady affairs cast a shadow over his fame. Composers are creatures that have dark sides, like all of us.
Today: Alessandro Scarlatti, Johann Rosenmüller and Alessandro Stradella.
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
1. Cantata “Filli che esprime la sua fede a Fileno”
– Introduction
– Recitative: Filen, mio caro bene
– Aria: Chiedi pur ai monti
– Recitative: ma se prova bastante
– Aria: Che ti sembra, son Fedele
Il Seminario Musicale conducted by Gerard Lesne, countertenor
(CD Alessandro Scarlatti – Cantates. Virgin Veritas 5 4126 2)
Johann Rosenmüller (1619-1684)
From ‘Lamentiones Ieremiae Prophetae’:
2. 2nd lectio for Maundy Thursday
3. 3rd lectio for Maundy Thursday (first version)
4. Triosonate in E minor
Ingrid Schmithüsen (soprano). Parnassi Musici
(CD Johann Rosenmüller – Lamentationes Jeremiah prophetae. Triosonates, CPO 999 387-2)
Alessandro Stradella (1644–1682)
5. “Quando mai vi stancherete”
6. “Ardo, sospiro e piango”
The Consort of Musicke: Emma Kirkby (soprano). David Thomas (bass). Anthony Rooley (lute)
(CD Alessandro Stradella – L’anime del purgatorio. Musica Oscuro 070984)
Alessandro Stradella
7. Sinfonia Avanti il Barcheccio
– Spiritosa e staccato
– Allegretto – Corrente
– Canzone
– Allegro
Reinhold Friedrich (trumpet). Budapest Strings
(CD Italian Trumpet Concertos. Capriccio 10 768)
Image: Judith beheading Holofernes, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) (Palazzo Barberini, Rome)
(source photo: Historical Fencer.com)
