The Italian Nicola Porpora was Haydn's teacher, but Haydn came by his progressivism on his own: Porpora exemplified the flashy, turbo-powered opera seria style of the time, and his later years, when styles passed him by, were grim. Germanico in Germania, recounting the adventures of a Roman centurion in the uneasily occupied area that gave its name to present-day Germany, was a typical production of the early 1730s and was quite popular in its time. The dimensions of the opera are almost Wagnerian, but there is little ...
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The Italian Nicola Porpora was Haydn's teacher, but Haydn came by his progressivism on his own: Porpora exemplified the flashy, turbo-powered opera seria style of the time, and his later years, when styles passed him by, were grim. Germanico in Germania, recounting the adventures of a Roman centurion in the uneasily occupied area that gave its name to present-day Germany, was a typical production of the early 1730s and was quite popular in its time. The dimensions of the opera are almost Wagnerian, but there is little tension to the story, and thus far the work has been cherry-picked for its arias. This is the first complete recording. The point is not the drama, but the lead singers, who in Porpora's time would have been a rafter-shaking group of castrati. Here you get the strong-voiced countertenor of the moment, Max Emanuel Cencic, plus some rising female singers, who, for aficionados, will provide reason to acquire the album. Try out the Moroccan soprano Hasnaa Bennani on "Germanico fu troppo...
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