A. Scarlatti: Griselda.(Sound Recording Review)

[] Roschmann, Cangemi, Fink, Tro Santafe; Zasso, van Rensburg; Akademie fur alte Musik Berlin, Jacobs. Libretto and translations. Harmonia Mundi HMC 901805.07 (3)

Boccaccio's Decameron provided librettist Apostolo Zeno with his inspiration for the tale of Griselda, a former shepherdess whose fidelity is tested by her husband, King Gualtiero of Sicily. Zeno's text, first used by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo in 1701, was set for the opera stage by numerous composers in the first half of the eighteenth century, including Alessandro Scarlatti in 1721.

The last of Scarlatti's more than one hundred (!) operas, Griselda admittedly fails to attain the psychological acuity found in the best stage works of Handel. Its three hours do hold one's interest, however, thanks to the skillful, exceedingly grateful vocal writing. The heroine's seven arias range from the ultra-feminine graciousness of "In voler cio che tu brami" (Griselda's loving acceptance of Gualtiero's wishes) to the fire of "Figlio! Tiranno! O Dio!" (an eloquent defense of her infant son when informed that Gualtiero has ordered him killed). Scarlatti is perhaps at his most inventive in music for the subsidiary couple; among their numbers are noble Roberto's brilliantly florid entrance, "Come presto," and, in Act II, the exquisite "Qualor tiranno Amore," sung by his emotionally volatile beloved, Costanza, with a B section unusual both ...