Caldara: Costanza Vince Il Rigore (La) / La Lode Premiata

Featuring

Giuseppe Nalin
Sylvia Pozzer
Stefano Albarello
Ensemble Barocco Sans Souci
Antonio Caldara

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Performer Biography

The Ensemble Barocco Padovano Sans Souci, founded in 1986 by Giuseppe Nalin and Aldo Fiorentin, is known for its use of historical instruments and its focus on music from the mid-17th to late 18th centuries.

Composition History

Caldara's appointment as maestro di cappella to Marchese Francesco Maria Ruspoli in Rome in 1709 led to an extraordinary outpouring of compositions, particularly secular cantatas.

Instruments

While many of Caldara's cantatas were for solo voice with continuo, some included first and second violins, and occasionally, as in the cantatas on this album, one or two oboes or even a pair of corni da caccia (hunting horns) were added.

Composer Biography

Antonio Caldara, born in Venice around 1670, began his career as a freelance instrumentalist and composer, working as a cellist and singer at the Basilica of St. Mark's.

Composition History

The two cantatas on this album, 'La costanza vince il rigore' and 'La lode premiata', can be dated to early summer 1710, based on surviving payment records to Ruspoli's music copyists.

Compositional Technique

Caldara's cantatas for Ruspoli were diverse in length, scoring, and musical style, ranging from simple aria-recitative-aria structures to extensive sequences, sometimes including an opening sinfonia.

Historical Context

During Caldara's time in Rome, Marchese Ruspoli hosted Sunday morning 'conversazioni'—brilliant concerts attended by nobility and literati—which required new compositions, making the cantata genre especially cherished.