Francesca Aspromonte, Boris Begelman, Arsenale Sonoro – Un’alma innamorata (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:07:03 minutes | 1,22 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
Soprano Francesca Aspromonte and violinist Boris Begelman present an all-Handel programme exploring the vicissitudes of love, together with Arsenale Sonoro. On Un’alma innamorata, Aspromonte urges us to take ownership of our amorous infatuations, rather than blaming it on Cupid’s arrows. The programme consists of several worldly cantatas with violino concertante – including the famous Mi palpita il cor and a world premiere recording of S’un dì m’appaga la mia crudele – interspersed with instrumental sonatas. The overall chamber-musical approach of Un’alma innamorata increases the emotional impact of the tragic heroines depicted by Aspromonte.
Francesca Aspromonte presents her third Pentatone album, after having released Prologue (2018) and Maria & Maddalena(2021). Boris Begelman featured on the latter album, whereas Arsenale Sonoro makes its Pentatone debut.
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Francesca Aspromonte & il pomo d’oro – Prologue (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:14:30 minutes | 1,40 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
A record made up entirely of prologues from operas and baroque oratorios: this album isn’t short on spice. Prologues are completely different from the – purely orchestral – overtures of later operas, as in the baroque era, after a short instrumental introduction, we’d get right into the action, often with a sung allegorical exposition of the setting and the story. Soprano Francesca Aspromonte and Enrico Onofri have collected these allegories with il pomo d’oro (the ensemble has decided that its name will be all lowercase), taken from the late 16th century with Monteverdi and Caccini up to the first quarter of the 18th century with Alessandro Scarlatti, via the rich beauty of the middle 17th century of Cavalli, Rossi, Stradella and Cesti. The listener will have to come to terms with the fact that the opera will never really start, that these are only the premises, the first tremblings, tantalising tasters, aimed at captivating the audience. Don’t forget that in those days, it wasn’t the custom to remain silent before the start of a show, and it took all the talents of the allegorist to finally get the fans’ full attention. We reckon that Francesca Aspromonte will have no trouble captivating her audience.
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Francesca Aspromonte – Maria & Maddalena (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:02:07 minutes | 1,25 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PentaTone
On her second PENTATONE album Maria & Maddalena, star soprano Francesca Aspromonte explores the Two Marys in oratorios by Lulier, Bononcini, Leopoldo I d’Asburgo, Caldara, Perti, Handel and Scarlatti, partly in new editions, documenting the extremely bloom of the genre in the years around 1700. She performs these works together with violinist Boris Begelman as well as the seasoned players of I Barocchisti under the baton of the eminent Diego Fasolis. Traditionally seen as two feminine opposites, with far-reaching moral implications, Aspromonte brings the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene together as two beautiful and strong women who turned their lives upside down by making the choice to dedicate themselves completely to an ideal. Her interpretation of these exceptional pieces explores all the emotions of the Two Marys, constituting a fascinating and profoundly moving portrait of what it means to be a woman.
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