Johann Adolph Hasse, a composer featured on this album, was himself a singer and married to the famous soprano Faustina Bordoni, which influenced his vocal writing.
Recording & Production
The album concludes with Giuseppe Tartini's "Largo andante" from his Violin Concerto D. 96 in A major, chosen for its unique, consoling quality.
Composition History
George Frideric Handel valued Leonardo Vinci's "Didone" opera so highly that he presented his own reworking of it in London in 1737 and reused material from it in other works.
Composer Biography
Niccolò Jommelli, a widely traveled and successful Neapolitan composer, set the popular "Didone abbandonata" libretto three times during his life.
Historical Context
The story of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and Aeneas, from Vergil's Aeneid, was a timelessly fascinating subject for Italian Baroque opera composers.
Cultural Impact
The tragic ending of Dido's story, contrary to the customs of the time, may have inspired many renowned composers, including Handel, Gluck, and Mozart.
Composition History
Pietro Metastasio, a famous poet, wrote his first and most successful libretto, "Didone abbandonata," which was set to music over sixty times.
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