Amor Sacro Amor Profano

Release Date: 2014-03-05
Available now on:
Loading tracks...

The vocal content of AMOR SACRO AMOR PROFANO program has been carefully selected and arranged. It conveys a caleidoscope of feelings and states of love, so different for the French and the Italians. The aria from Vivaldi’s cantata Cessate omai cessate – Ah! Ch’infelice sempre depicts a betrayed love, for which there is no hope but death. Vivaldi chose a calm semiquaver for accompanying pizzicato strings, which symbolize the tears of an unhappy lover. The aria from Vivaldi’s In furore Iustissimae Irae leads to a tempestous furioso, signifying God’s wrath and power, contrasted by the B part, depicting grace and forgiveness, which come in consolation and serenity. How willing my paternal love from Haendel’s Samson speaks of a father’s love. Afterwards the record fluidly moves on to a French chanson populaire from the 16thcentury, Une Jeune Fillette, which tells the story of a pure-hearted girl in love with a boy with whom she would like to be every night. The lovely melody and sweet words subtly and sensuously depict waiting for a beloved. Next we have

chanson a boire, Bachus et Amour, and chanson a danser, Celle qui fait tout mon tourment by Charpentier which paint a still different picture of French popular music, a feasting song and a dance song. The lyrics and the melodies are easy and catchy, very suggestive in their simplicity and directedness. Rameau’s Puisque Pluton plays nicely with Lully’s Trop indiscret Amour from Ballet de Muses. Both speak of love transcending death and heroes descending into Hell in search of their loved ones. Lully’s idea in particular, which was given the subtitle Recit d’Orfeo, is extraordinary. Solo violin represent Orpheus, who plays the lute to accompany Euridice in their journey through Hell. The last two pieces come from two important seats of Italian music – Venice and Naples, the capital of Italian popular song. Monteverdi’s Quel sguardo sdegnosetto is a light song about flirting through quick glances, which always reach the naïve heart. Dormi o nimo from Caresana’s Christmas cantata La Veglia, is one of the most beautiful lullabies in the history of music.

The vocal pieces intertwine with instrumental ones, which are interesting in both the musical and historic context. “Il Grosso Mogul” is an exceptional concert in Vivaldi’s body of work. It was dedicated to an Indian maharaja from the “Mogul” dynasty, one of the most powerful in the history of the world. Apart from drawing inspiration from Indian music and his impression of what Indian music is, Vivaldi has composed for himself a cadence of pure virtuosity, unique among his concerts. The authorship of Bach’s BWV 1023 sonata is a constant source of discord among the musicologists, some of whom ascribe it to Bach, and some to a different composer. The piece is very dark and brooding, filled with dissonance and decreased accords. It was an inspiration to Respighi, Italian composer from the Romantic period, who arranged the sonata for solo violin and string orchestra. This very intimate rendering has been for the first time recorded by Il Giardino d’Amore with the use of period instruments. Stradella and Corelli were composers active in the Eternal City. Sinfonia of Stradella is a three-part overture to the Christmas serenade Ah!Troppo e ver, composed for 6 voices, strings and continuo. It has an explicitly pastoral theme and conveys a Christmas pastoral atmosphere.

Sinfonia is written as a concert, with intertwining concertino and grosso parts. Sinfonia of Stradella paves the way to Corelli’s Concerto Grosso op. 6 no. 4. Corelli was a true precursor of purely instrumental and concert music, and his collection of Concerti Grossi op. 6 was for many years treated as the template for this type of concert.