Benedetto Marcello's 'Lettera del signor Carlo Antonio Benati' is a musical setting of a letter from an elderly music teacher to his young pupil, Vittoria Tesi, who was an archetype of the prima donna.
Performer Biography
The ensemble La Gioannina, founded in 2012 by Rémi Cassaigne and Nanja Breedijk, explores repertoire from the baroque era to the present day, with a focus on harp and lute.
Composition History
The album includes a contemporary cycle by Vincent Bouchot, set to previously unpublished texts by the French writer Michel Butor, which were inspired by the constraint of Twitter's 140-character limit.
Composition History
The 'letter in music' genre, while intimate, is also theatrical, raising questions about whose voice is being heard: the recipient reading aloud, the sender reviewing, or a dialogue between separated lovers.
Performer Biography
Françoise Masset, the singer on this album, is praised by critic Ivan Alexandre as 'one of our rare, of our last tellers' and performs a diverse repertoire from baroque to contemporary music.
Compositional Technique
The 'letter in music' genre is characterized by 'contemplative moments' where arias suddenly interrupt recitatives, a device that became essential to opera seria.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The album explores the 'letter in music' as a lyrical archetype, a genre that allows an intimate communication to be glimpsed by the listener.
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