A musical, scholarly and cultural triumph

The Other Cleopatra, Queen of Armenia: Arias by Hasse, Vivaldi, Gluck

This remarkable album is more than a classical music recording; it's also a work of original scholarship and an effective cultural advocacy project. I hasten to add that it works especially well musically. Isabel Bayrakdarian is in fine voice, and she receives stellar support from the very fine conductor Constantine Orbelian and the excellent Kaunas City Symphony in Lithuania. As a bonus, the superb harpsichordist Jory Vinikour is on hand to add special zest to the continuo parts. He and Bayrakdarian are especially fine partners in the recitatives.

In the 18th century Abate Francesco Silvani wrote a libretto based on the story of King Tigranes II, the greatest king in Armenian history, and his wife Cleopatra of Pontus. It was set by a number of composers, including three who feature on this album: Johann Adolph Hasse, Antonio Vivaldi and Christoph Willibald Gluck. Bayrakdarian put this program together as part of her research at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she is Associate Professor of Voice and Opera,  choosing these arias and recitatives, which fit her "voice and temperament". There are some exciting moments here: "Squarciami pure il seno" by Vivaldi and Gluck's "Presso l’onda" are stand-outs. But even better are the slower, more contemplative, moments: Hasse's "Parte, parte" and "Presso a l'onde", and Gluck's "Priva del cara bene". This is lovely, graceful music. Even more impressive, though, is Vivaldi's aria "Qui mentre mormorando", introduced by the recitative "Lasciatemi in riposo". It's music worthy of the mature Mozart, full of sadness and pathos, but always dramatic. Like Mozart, Vivaldi has a keen sense of the psychology of his characters. So it doesn't matter what actually happens with the plot (alas, Abate Silvani was no Da Ponte!); what is key is how the music helps us to understand what the character is feeling. And, of course, that communication also requires a singer of some psychological awareness as well as technical and dramatic skills, and we are indeed lucky to have in this project such a remarkable soprano as Isabel Bayrakdarian. I couldn't recommend this album more highly.

This album will be released on March 30, 2020

Four interesting concertos, with two stand-outs

20th Century Harpischord Concertos, by Walter Leigh, Ned Rorem, Viktor Kalabis & Michael Nyman

Ned Rorem wrote his Concertino da Camera in 1946, but the score was lost, and it had to wait until 1993 for its world premiére performance, at the University of Minnesota. Luckily this marvellous work has made its way to this CD: its first commercial recording. Much, much better late than never! It's a kind of an echo of an echo: very much reminiscent of Camille Saint-Saens' fabulous Septet for piano, trumpet and strings, written in 1880, it's also a direct descendant of the Baroque harpsichord concertos of Bach and his sons, and many other composers, via the neo-classical works of Frank Martin, De Falla, and others. Harpsichordist Jory Vinikour sparkles in the solo part, which is intricate and evocative. Rorem includes some folkloric touches in the finale, and even adds a bit of American flair to a work that has a largely Gallic sound. Walter Leigh's work, written in 1934, is also called a Concertino, as it's rather slight, but this is a classic English pastoral piece that's both charming and unexpectedly virtuosic. Trevor Pinnock recorded this work in 2007, but I prefer Vinikour's performance for its verve and swing.

Victor Kalabis's 1975 Concerto for Harpsichord is an almost laser-focussed serious work. There are a few good humoured passages, but no real humour, and nothing to break the intense mood that spreads throughout all three movements. Michael Nyman's 1995 Concerto for Amplified Harpsichord was also less congenial to my taste than I had expected. It flirts with pastiche at times, and though there are lovely bits, it doesn't seem to hold together as a coherent work of art; not, at least, in the same way the Rorem and Leigh works did. Still, those works - especially the Rorem - make this a special album, and one that you shouldn't miss out on.