Vinci Artaserse (2DVD) [DVD] - Very Good

Very Good - USED - Very Good: A well-maintained video game, CD, or DVD that has been played but remains in excellent condition. The disc is fully functional, plays without interruptions, and does not skip. The box or jewel case, along with the cover art, liner notes, and other inclusions, may show only minor signs of wear. Please note that any included digital codes (if applicable) are not guaranteed to work. USED BOOK: This book is in very good condition, showing only minimal signs of wear. The pages are clean with no markings, and the cover may have slight shelf wear. The spine remains uncreased, and the book appears well cared for. It is a solid copy that presents well and is enjoyable to read. Please note that any included access codes (if applicable) are not guaranteed to work.

Shortlisted for the prestigious Gramophone Awards in 2013, the CD version of Vinci's Artaserse was described by Gramophone as a "sensational landmark recording;" International Record Review judged it "an outstanding performance and the most important Baroque opera discovery of the year so far," with the reviewer adding: "I can't recommend it highly enough, especially if you like countertenors," while The Guardian said, "The singing is epoch-making." When, in late 2012, the opera was staged at the Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy in an extravagant, Baroque-inspired production by Silviu Purcãrete, the response was no less enthusiastic.Artaserse, a story of the Persian emperor Artaxerxes, was first performed in 1730 at the Teatro delle Dame in Rome. At the time, a papal decree banned women from appearing on the stages of the city's theatres, so the entire cast was male, with the female roles sung by castrati. This production rises to the challenge of single-sex casting with an impressive line-up of fine countertenors: Croatian-born Max Emanuel Cencic, who was a driving force behind the entire Artaserse project; the Frenchman Philippe Jaroussky; Argentinian Franco Fagioli; Romanian Valer Barna-Sabadus; and Ukrainian Yuriy Mynenko. Joining them are a lone tenor, the Spaniard Juan Sancho, and the brilliant Concerto Köln ensemble directed by Diego Fasolis.The Neapolitan Leonardo Vinci (1690-1730) was celebrated during his life as one of Italy's leading opera composers. In the words of musicologist Frédéric Delaméa, Artaserse, composed to a libretto by the great Metastasio, "is a key work of Baroque opera and the genius of Vinci is still too little known." The status of Vinci as a composer, and of Artaserse as his masterpiece, is reflected in the observations of the French scholar and traveller Charles de Brosses, who, 10 years after Vinci's death from poisoning, wrote: "Vinci is the Lully of Italy: true, simple, natural, expressive, writing in the most beautiful, uncontrived way for the voice... Artaserse has a reputation as his finest work, and one of Metastasio's finest too... It is the most famous Italian opera."

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