The oratorio, a musical genre widespread in the Catholic world, served as an expression of religious, moral, and often political concerns for the ruling class.
Compositional Technique
Unlike opera, oratorios often feature a single character singing two or three arias consecutively, creating an extensive monologue with a wide range of emotions.
Compositional Technique
The album features a strophic aria, 'Ecco qui l'incomprensibile,' a 17th-century form where different words are sung to the same music, supported only by basso continuo.
Composer Biography
Giacomo Antonio Perti, a contemporary of Alessandro Scarlatti and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's teacher, composed for eighty years and was admired by princes, popes, and emperors.
Recording & Production
The album was recorded at RSI Studios in Lugano, Switzerland, in July 2020, in collaboration with RSI Rete Due, Lugano.
Composition History
The aria 'Ecco qui l'incomprensibile' from Antonio Draghi's 'Il Crocefisso per Grazia' was actually composed by Leopold I of Habsburg, the Holy Roman Emperor and dedicatee of the work.
Album & Artwork
The album concept, developed by soprano Francesca Aspromonte, explores the similarities between the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene through music.
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