Cavalli: Gli Amori D'Apollo E Di Dafne

Featuring

Alberto Zedda
Mario Zeffiri
Marianna Pizzolato
Marisa Martins
Agustín Prunell-Friend
Soledad Cardoso

Assumpta Mateu
Carlo Lepore
José Ferrero
Ugo Guagliardo
Fabiola Masino
Luisa Maesso
Orquesta Joven de la Sinfónica de Galicia
Francesco Cavalli

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Historical Context

Cavalli, who was an Achorister at St Mark's in Venice under Monteverdi, became organist at the Basilica in 1639.

Recording & Production

The manuscript provides only vocal parts and a bass line, with other instrumental lines appearing in sinfonias, balli, and ritornellos, but without specifying instruments.

Recording & Production

The only surviving musical source for Gli Amori d'Apollo e di Dafne is a manuscript copy held in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, which is missing four scenes.

Composition History

The opera marked the beginning of Cavalli's collaboration with librettist Giovanni Francesco Busenello, who also wrote the libretto for Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea.

Compositional Technique

Gli Amori d'Apollo e di Dafne features noble declamation, ariosos, and long, asymmetrical phrases, which were soon replaced by shorter, more regular ariettas in later operas.

Composition History

Cavalli's opera, Gli amori d'Apollo e di Dafne, premiered in 1640 at the Teatro S. Cassiano in Venice and was his second opera.

Compositional Technique

The opera includes a travesti rôle for the elderly female character Cirilla, sung by a male voice in an exaggerated falsetto, a common practice at the time.