The Crown: Heroic Arias for Senesino

Name: The Crown: Heroic Arias for Senesino
SKU: SIGCD719
Availability: InStock

£8.00 – £14.00

The legacy of the celebrity castrato Senesino has endured for centuries. He is known to us today primarily as Handel’s leading man for 13 seasons in London, and he was recognised the world over for his moving dramatic interpretations, fiery singing, and singular, over-the-top divo personality. Yet, Handel’s music for Senesino only shows us a fraction of the numerous virtuosic roles written for the castrato. Here, for the first time, are arias by seven overlooked composers who also wrote showpieces for the (in)famous Senesino. All but one of the arias on this album are modern-day premieres and heard together, they illuminate the talents of an 18th-century operatic icon.

Each of the composers on this album was a genuine musical talent, greatly admired for the refinement and skill of their compositions, but they are almost entirely forgotten today. What a fascinating bunch! One was a part-time spy for the future King of France, another a workaholic recluse, one was accused of plagiarism and banished from London entirely, and another worked a side-gig composing music for Italian comedians.

The countertenor Randall Scotting’s debut album on Signum Records with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by Laurence Cummings.

★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording “In this debut solo album, seven years in the making, countertenor Randall Scotting lets loose a ravishing vocalism…this recording captures his dramatic artistry” – BBC Music Magazine

★★★★ “The American countertenor sings his Senesino program with great commitment, feeling, drama and, above all, versatility, finding the right character for each character. Much affetto and, above all, color characterize the warm, flexible, full-sounding singing, which is supported by a no less expressive orchestra under the inspired direction of Laurence Cummings” – Pizzicato

“It’s a really rich voice with a good range of dramatic colours, and Scotting writes very well about the start castrato in the notes. It’s an effective reminder of the range and combustible temperament of an extraordinary performer in Handel’s London” – BBC Radio 3 Record Review

SKU: SIGCD719

Randall Scotting countertenor

Laurence Cummings

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Release date: 02/09/22

Catalogue number: SIGCD719

Barcode: 635212071922

“That Orlandini aria, with its lovely sustained serpentine lines, would make for an excellent introduction to what is perhaps Scotting’s greatest natural asset – the intrinsic beauty of a voice that is also satisfyingly rounded and full…Here, too, he displays a technique that includes an ability to phrase with real musical intelligence…A fascinating collection…and well supported by the OAE and Laurence Cummings” – Opera Magazine

“The offbeat repertoire is rarely less than agreeable, the performances eloquent, and Signum’s documentation a model of what these things should be” – Gramophone

“In this beautiful recording, Randall exhibits all those virtues praised by the public and critics: a voice of impressive beauty, warm, capable of moving thanks to its technical control and mastery of emotions in the embodied roles, as well as a solid musicality that allows you to successfully tackle flowery and coloratura passages of extreme difficulty.” – Pro Opera

★★★★ “[Scotting’s] impressively even and agile instrument, with its warm, natural vibrato and particularly beguiling timbre in the lower range. Here, as indeed throughout the program, Scotting’s cadenzas and da capo ornaments are, like the man, both confident and stylish…Scotting could not hope for more sympathetic accompanists in Laurence Cummings and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, who also have flashes of brilliance in two short instrumental interludes. With copious notes, the booklet is a model of its kind, and the engineering is warm but clear. If charismatically sung baroque opera arias are your thing, Randall Scotting is your man” – Limelight

“No doubt the Baroque enthusiast will find plenty to cherish…[Scotting] markedly stands apart from some of his colleagues, including from the roster of the Metropolitan Opera, as the timbre, virile and layered, barely subsides to the airiness or, improperly, thinness that a lighter voice may produce. Instead, it remains firmly grounded in the velvety riches of its essentially baritonal core…Excellent playing of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. At its helm, Laurence Cummings sensibly strikes a balance between showcasing instrumental bravura and accompanying his primo uomo….highly ambitious program. The album is indeed revelatory and significant” – Opera Wire

[1] Eumene, Act II: Ricordati che offesa (Eumene)
[2] Vespasiano, Act I: Lasso! Ch’io t’ho perduta (Tito)
[3] Olimpiade, Act II: Se cerca, se dice (Megacle)
[4] Caio Marzio Coriolano: March of the Dead
[5] Adelaide, Act III: Adelaide, a te vengo (Ottone)
[6] Adelaide, Act III: Vedrò più liete, e belle (Ottone)
[7] Adriano in Siria, Act III: Di vassallo, e d’amante (Farnaspe)
[8] Adriano in Siria, Act III: Son sventurato (Farnaspe)
[9] Griselda, Act II: Dolce sogno (Gualtiero)
[10] Eumene, Act II: Sì, tu trovasti
[11] Eumene, Act II: Fra l’orror d’atra foresta (Eumene)
[12] Adelaide, Act II: Con due pegni (Ottone)
[13] Adelaide, Act II: Non disperi peregrino (Ottone)
[14] Demetrio, Act II: Non so frenar il pianto (Demetrio)
[15] Griselda, Act I: Affetto gioia (Gualtiero)
[16] Adelaide: Sinfonia ‘Minuet’
[17] Caio Marzio Coriolano, Act II: So che guarda (Coriolano)
[18] Ascanio, Act II: Non può quest’alma in sen (Ascanio)