Search - Velardi, Alessandro Stradella Consort :: Moro Per Amore

A Splendid Seventeenth-Century Opera

Michael S. Swisher | Stillwater, Minnesota USA | 07/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Alessandro Stradella was, along with Henry Purcell and Heinrich von Biber, among the most striking and idiosyncratic composers of the late seventeenth century. He is known principally for his cantatas on sacred subjects such as "La Susanna" and "San Giovanni Battista," which prefigure Handel's oratorios, and from which Handel borrowed freely. Stradella's musical eccentricities were paralleled by his irregular life. A member of the minor nobility, he ran through his inheritance while young, and thereafter supplemented his musical earnings by questionable financial dealings that incurred the anger of influential families. These obliged him to flee Rome for Venice in 1677. At Venice he seduced the mistress of a patrician, who in consequence sent assassins after him. He fled again to Turin, then to Genoa, where he was finally klled in 1682. Responsibility for his murder has never been convincingly assigned. Stradella's life resembled a melodrama, and has indeed been made the subject of an opera by Flotow. "Moro per amore" (A Moor for love, or alternately, A fool for love) is not a cantata but a full-fledged opera, and a grand one at that. The libretto by Flavio Orsini, duke of Bracchiano, is alternatively titled "Il Floridoro." It was composed as a private diversion for that nobleman's friends in the Accademia degli Arcadi, a semi-secret learned society typical of the age, in which its author held the anagrammatic deckname Filosinavoro.The libretti of seventeenth-century operas are commonly dismissed as flimsy. This one is no sillier than those of many famous operas of the nineteenth century, and it serves well as a vehicle for Stradella's music. In Act One, Eurinda, queen of Trinacria (Sicily), has come of age but disdains marriage, despite the advice of her old nurse, Lindora. The lady-in-waiting Lucinda also rejects the idea of love. Eurinda's counsellor Rodrigo is distressed by her delay and fears that a helpless girl cannot protect her throne. Filandro, ambassador of Naples, has come to court to solicit Eurinda's hand for his king. However, Floridoro, prince of Cyprus (a power traditionally opposed to Sicily) has disguised himself as Filandro's Moorish servant Feraspe, so that he may see and pay court to Eurinda. Filandro asks Eurinda to marry the king of Naples, but she declines. In the mean time, Filandro presses his own suit to Lucinda, but she rejects him. In a comic moment, Lindora, the nurse, tres to attract Feraspe, but he has no interest in her.At the start of Act Two, the page Fiorino complains of the falsity of courtly manners and the difficulty of serving two masters (Filandro, his nominal employer, and Feraspe/Floridoro, his real one). Filandro asks Rodrigo how he might succed in winning Eurinda for the king of Naples, while continuing to pursue Lucinda. Eurinda realizes she has fallen in love with Feraspe, even though he is but a servant. The aged Lindora fancies a downstairs romance with Feraspe for herself. Lucinda continues to reject Filandro, while Feraspe reveals his love to Eurinda. Lucinda, eavesdropping on this scene, is consumed with jealousy. Now aware that Feraspe is in love with her mistress, Lindora turns her attentions to Fiorino, with equal lack of success. Lucinda declares her love to Feraspe, who repels her. She then orders him to deliver a letter from Eurinda to Rodrigo in a remote part of the kingdom where enemy Cyprians are menacing. In Act Three, Eurinda is distressed to learn from Lucinda that Feraspe has been sent to deliver the letter to Rodrigo. Filandro again presses the suit of the Neapolitan king and is again rejected. Rodrigo returns to court reporting that Feraspe has been taken prisoner by the Cyprians. He learns of Eurinda's love for Feraspe. Eurinda mourns the capture of Feraspe, and Lucinda is seized with remorse. She realizes that Filandro is devoted to her and declares her love for him. Filandro learns fom Lindora that Eurinda loves Feraspe. Rodrigo reports that the page Fiorino has explained to him that Feraspe is really the disguised Floridoro, who is just arriving. Floridoro returns and is reuinted with Eurinda, their union being blessed by the counsellor Rodrigo. Finally, Fiorino returns and declares his love for Lindora.While it is not Shakespearean in its gravitas, the story reminds us why so many of Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies had Italian settings - such Italian comedies of manners as this one had been written years before Shakespeare, and continued to be for many years after his time, as this one was. The interplay between the "downstairs" and "upstairs" characters is a staple, the servants often being used for low comedy, as for example Juliet's nurse in "Romeo and Juliet." The comparable character in "Moro per amore," Lindora, is given some of the most resplendent singing; the aria "Muta stil" is a real showpiece.Indeed, the music of "Moro per amore" challenges all its singers. It was intended for a cast of virtuosi: two female sopranos (Eurinda and Lucinda); a castrato soprano (Fiorino); a female contralto (Lindora), a castrato contralto (Feraspe/Floridoro), a tenor (Filandro) and a bass (Rodrigo). Here the rôle of Lindora is sung by the male contralto Marco Lazzara, that of Feraspe/Floridoro by female contralto Valeria Matacchini, and Fiorino by female soprano Maria Grazia Liguori. Roberta Invernizzi sings Eurinda, Silvia Piccollo is Lucinda, Filandro is Marco Beasley, and Rodrigo, Riccardo Ristori. The cast are all more than competent, but outstanding performances are delivered by Invernizzi as Eurinda, and especially by Lazzara as Lindora. Esteban Velardi ably conducts the Alessandro Stradella Consort in the sinfonie and ritornelle. This 3-disc set under the off-brand Bongiovanni label is a very fine recording of some great music."