#artaserse

[garland-on-thy-brow]

One day I am going to start writing 18th century opera singers RPF. And it is going to be because when two guys repeatedly play co-conspirators, I cannot help it even if I know nothing else about them.

[The singers of Brutus and Cassius in the première of La morte di Cesare sung Artabano and Megabise in Bertoni's Artaserse a couple of months before that.]

[bd-bandkanon]

ref. Artaserse, Vinci; Opera National de Lorraine, November 10th, 2012

[theladygruoch]

Valentine <3

[garland-on-thy-brow]

"Orestes is better known by his friend Pylades than by Agamemnon his father" for me has similar vibes to this:

[Artaserse, Pietro Metastasio]

Val. Max. 4.7 / La Mort de Cesar, Voltaire (trans. Frank J. Morlock)

[onenakedfarmer]

Currently Playing

Philippe Jarousky THE HÄNDEL ALBUM

[vera-dauriac]

Playing more catch up on things I've been tagged on lately!

Tagged weeks and weeks ago by @maryloohoo. (Thanks!)

✨When you get this, you have to put 5 songs you actually listen to, then tag 10 of your followers✨ (non-obligatory)

1. Still going through my mind a lot lately after watching last weekend.

“Eri Tu” Un ballo in Maschera

Verdi; Dima

2. Current obsession as I work on fic.

“Restate” Don Carlo

Verdi; Kwiecien, Pape

3. Thanks to the Donizetti discussion this morning, I’ve already listened to this twice today.

Sextet, Lucia di Lammermoor

Donizetti; Netrebko, Beczała, Kwiecien, et al

4. Been obsessed with this for months now since a coworker shared it with me.

Organ Sonata No. 4, BWV 528 - II. Andante [Adagio] (Transcr. by August Stradal)

Bach, Olafsson

5. Several months back, YouTube started putting this on a bunch of my mixes, and I am very pleased they did.

“Vo solcando un mar crudele” Artaserse

Vinci, Fagioli

Tagging (and, obviously, take your time or ignore): @notyouraveragejulie @widevibratobitch @verdiesque @revedebeatrice @sugar-bowl-in-the-shade @smile-at-the-stars @myalchod @tuttocenere @agarthanguide @akathecentimetre

[lesser-known-composers]

Henry Purcell (1659-95) The Fairy Queen, Z.629 (1692) O let me weep (The Plaint)

Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor Ensemble Artaserse

[garland-on-thy-brow]

Ardito ti renda (Megabise's aria from Artaserse) is that "You cannot give up" speech from Cherry Magic but about regicide.

[ombra-fedele]

Valer Barna-Sabadus, countertenor/sopranst.

Or la nube procellosa: inserted aria by Nicola Porpora for Hasse pastiche-opera Artaserse, 1734

The stormy cloud of threats and anger has disappeared from your serene face, my sweet sun.

To compensate for the most cruel disasters, the Heavens have given to me your charming beauty.

[wearethekat]

as anyone who's read Alexis Hall's Something Spectacular would know, this is a queer novel which namedrops a lot of Baroque music. as someone with a Lot of Thoughts about music (albeit with no claim to expertise), here's the compiled results of the frantic youtube searching I did to find out which pieces he was referring to. Plus bonus commentary on the likelihood of the piece sending someone into raptures. May this be a help to anyone mixing up Artaxerxes (Arne), Artaserse (Vinci), and Serse (Handel).

(Yes, all three of these works do appear in the book, a curse on baroque composers and their recycled libretti)

Sonata no. 1 Book 1 in F For Piano Four Hands: II: Allegro (Burney)

Quote: "'Oh no.' Peggy elbowed Sir Horley urgently. 'I haven't heard Sonata no. 1 Book 1 in F for Piano Four Hands: I. How will I understand the plot?'" (45)

Commentary: I thought Alexis Hall had made this one up when reading the book. That's too much title, put some back. This one is actually legitimately tiresome*, 2/10. Highly unlikely to send someone into raptures.

Mozart's Flute Concerto no. 1 in G major

Quote: "only to be replaced by a long-nosed gentleman who subjected them to the full thirty minutes" (47)

Commentary: Cmon, this is Mozart, Peggy! please don't disrespect his divine name. 6/10. I could see how it would fail to send someone who doesn't like music into raptures, especially if we account for the fact it was apparently performed sans orchestra and possibly by an amateur performer.

Artaxerxes, "Still Silence Reigns Around" (Arne)

Quote: "As her clear, crystalline voice filled the room, Peggy wondered if anyone else was sensible of the irony of a two to three hour piece of musical theater opening with the line 'Still silence reigns around.' It was all she could do to prevent herself from muttering 'We should be so lucky' under her breath." (48)

Commentary: I was extremely skeptical that any concert would subject people to straight recitative, a convention designed to jam as much plot as inhumanely possible into thirty seconds of half-sung Italian. But no, Alexis Hall says this piece was so overplayed at the time that Jane Austen complained about it in a letter, and I believe him. 1/10. It takes a very good composer to make this stuff rapturous and this is not it.

"Come Fill, Fill, My Good Fellow" (Beethoven)

Quote: "the name of which reduced Sir Horley to a fit of giggles that had to be stifled in Peggy's handkerchief" (48)

Commentary: okay now this one was definitely put in just to make the obvious joke, but it's actually quite a fun drinking song, 6/10.

Cello Concerto in A Major (CPE Bach) (probably)

Quote: "the CPE Bach concerto he played sounded like someone sobbing under their bedclothes in the dark, but it spoke to her present mood." (48)

Commentary: Now THIS is more like it. Surely this would touch the heart of even the most hardened music hater, if only briefly. 7.5/10.

Serse, "Ombra mai fu" (Handel)

Quote: "There were no vocal tricks, no embellishments, or flourishes: just the performer's voice merciless in its power and perfection like nothing Peggy had ever heard before." (51)

Commentary: Okay, yeah, that would do it. I'm skeptical that this would make someone faint OR give them a spontaneous orgasm (especially since it's already been established that their hearts are hardened to the glories of Mozart), but it's a gorgeous piece. 9/10. Almost makes you want to forgive Handel for writing that wretched Hallelujah Chorus.

Artaserse, "Vo solcando un mar crud" (Vinci)

Quote: "Orfeo's voice rose and fell like the waves in a storm, gathering power and breaking afresh" (125)

Commentary: This is so extremely tiresome and unlovely. In fact it was so bad I had to double-check that the author actually meant this opera and not the five other Artaserses, but no. This is it. 0/10, bad even for the excesses of Baroque music, there's no way that an accredited Music Hater would enjoy this, no matter how hot they found the singer. If you want to hear what really good Baroque opera sounds like, try Joyce Didonato** chewing the furniture in this fantastic performance of "Pensieri, voi mi tormentate" (Handel again).

Germanico in Germanium, "Parto ti lascio, o cara" (Porpora)

Quote: "They surged through a dizzying series of rapid trills and flourishes, half-desperate, half-furious, the melody almost stumbling to keep up with them." (259)

Commentary: Perfectly passable if not precisely to my taste (<- baroque music disliker). I could see it having an effect if you already thought the singer was hot, 7/10.

Also mentioned: Minuetto (Boccherini)

*in my personal opinion as number 1 piano disliker

** for those of you who are musically uninclined, she's also singing a role which would be conventionally described as an "evil MILF" while dressed in black lingerie.

[giuseppetramentozzi]

VITTORIA NELLA PREGHIERA-pastore Giuseppe Tramentozzi

Nato in esilio e coppiere del re Artaserse I, Neemia, sebbene conducesse una vita agiata, aveva sempre il cuore legato al pensiero di Gerusalemme devastata. Egli aveva un’alta concezione dell’opera di Dio e per questo motivo i suoi nemici tentarono di condurlo in un villaggio della Valle di Ono a circa 40 km a nord di Gerusalemme dove non avrebbe potuto difendersi, per poi ucciderlo, ma l’inganno…

[sneekpeekinspired]

The Voice - Blind Auditions 3

Elisa Barbosa is wearing Gucci Fall 2023 Embroidered silk organza shirt ($2,700), Fall 2023 Silk Organza Skirt ($1,980) Manolo Blahnik Artaserse 105 Leather-trimmed Suede Sandals in Yellow ($975), David Webb Earrings and Rings

[onenakedfarmer]

Currently Playing

Benedetto Ferrari MUSICHE VARIE

Philippe Jaroussky Ensemble Artaserse

[immaculate-imperfection]

Franco Fagioli singing "Vo solcando un mar crudele" from Leonardo Vinci's opera Artaserse (1730)

ecstasy (noun) ec·​sta·​sy ˈek-stə-sē  : a state of overwhelming emotion especially: rapturous delight

[lesser-known-composers]

Riccardo Broschi (c. 1698 - 1756) “Son qual nave,” from “Artaserse” (1734) Bruno de Sá, sopranist Il Pomo d’Oro Francesco Corti, conductor

[garland-on-thy-brow]

Girl wake up, new Vo solcando un mar crudele just dropped.