The performer, Raffaele Pe, aims to explore the future possibilities of the countertenor vocal register, embracing soprano and contralto tessituras based on dramatic demands.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded in November 2017 in Lodi, Italy, at the Teatro alle Vigne.
Historical Context
The French Revolution, with its guillotines and bloodshed, influenced opera houses to display the killing of a dictator onstage, a departure from classical theatre rules.
Composition History
The most widely-circulated 17th-century libretto about Caesar, Giulio Cesare in Egitto by Giacomo Francesco Bussani, was set to music in 1677 by Antonio Sartorio, an important Venetian opera composer.
Composition History
The arias from Carlo Francesco Pollarolo's Giulio Cesare in Egitto, commissioned in 1713 but never performed, are made available for the first time on this recording.
Album & Artwork
The album's cover features photos of Raffaele Pe, the countertenor, taken by Nicola Dal Maso (RibaltaLuce Studio).
Interpretation
The album intentionally mixes different interpretative styles, inspired by the Baroque aesthetic of variety and diversity, where contrasting emotions are allowed to fully emerge.
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