Domenico Cimarosa (1749–1801) became one of the more important composers of Italian comic opera in the last quarter of the 18th century. He spent some years from 1787 as maestro di cappella to Catherine the Great in St Petersburg and at the court of the Emperor Leopold II in Vienna in 1791, the year of Mozart’s death. Cimarosa composed a very large number of operas, of which the best remembered is Il matrimonio segreto, based on the English comedy
The Clandestine Marriage by David Garrick and George Colman.
The Clandestine Marriage by David Garrick and George Colman.
FINAL VOLUME
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‘Compared to Mozart’s opera overtures, or to others of the same period, most of these works have charm and some
lilt... As orchestral music, these overtures are good – pleasant, vibrant, and infectiously rhythmic.’ – AllMusic.com
lilt... As orchestral music, these overtures are good – pleasant, vibrant, and infectiously rhythmic.’ – AllMusic.com
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FINAL VOLUME
8.574103 • Vol. 7 | 747313410378
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Domenico Cimarosa was a prolific composer of church and instrumental music, but his reputation rests principally on his operas. During the second half of the 18th century, and until the arrival of Rossini, he was the most successful and performed operatic composer in Europe, and one of the last exponents of the Neapolitan School. His bracing and vivacious overtures in this final volume include the hugely popular Il convito (‘The Banquet’), a triumph in Venice and Florence, as well as some examples of his expressively moving overtures for oratorios.
Listen to an excerpt from
Judith – Overture
Judith – Overture
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8.570508 • Vol. 1
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Domenico Cimarosa was the most famous and popular Italian composer of the second half of the eighteenth century. In the course of a brilliantly successful career he composed more than 65 operas, as well as a significant body of instrumental music and works for the church. His operas were performed all over Europe, both in Italian and in translation. A number of Cimarosa’s operas continued to enjoy occasional stagings during the nineteenth century, and his most famous work, Il matrimonio segreto, is one of only a handful of operas of the period never to have left the repertory. Cimarosa’s overtures are remarkable for their melodic invention, assured handling of the orchestra and sheer vitality.
‘Conductor Alessandro Amoretti and the Nicolaus Esterhazy Sinfonia play up a storm in every one of these delightful classical concoctions, and the sound is good.’ – Classical Lost and Found
Listen to an excerpt from
Cleopatra – Overture
Cleopatra – Overture
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8.570279 • Vol. 2
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Domenico Cimarosa was the most famous and popular Italian opera composer of the second half of the eighteenth century. In the course of a brilliantly successful career he composed more than 65 operas as well as a significant body of instrumental music and works for the church. His operas were performed all over Europe, both in Italian and in translation. A number of Cimarosa’s operas continued to enjoy occasional stagings during the nineteenth century, and his most famous work, Il matrimonio segreto, is one of only a handful of operas of the period never to have left the repertory. Cimarosa’s overtures are remarkable for their melodic invention, assured handling of the orchestra and sheer vitality.
‘Rewarding interpretations that summon respect for the composer as well as admiration for the performers. With Mallon in charge, the music exudes a freshness that is a welcome surprise and that further commends these poised and erudite readings.’ – Fanfare
Listen to an excerpt from
Artaserse – Overture
Artaserse – Overture
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8.572734 • Vol. 3
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The most famous and popular Italian opera composer of the second half of the eighteenth century, Domenico Cimarosa composed more than 65 operas which were performed all over Europe, as well as a significant body of instrumental music and works for the church. Cimarosa’s overtures are remarkable for their melodic invention, assured handling of the orchestra and sheer vitality. This recording includes the overture to one of Cimarosa’s most popular operas, I due baroni di Roccazzura, and that of his personal favourite, Artemisia, regina di Caria.
‘The Sinfonia Finlandia plays with consistent alertness and transparency. The engineering is excellent.’ – ClassicsToday.com
Listen to an excerpt from
Le stravaganze d’amore – Overture
Le stravaganze d’amore – Overture
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8.573459 • Vol. 4
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The most famous Italian opera composer of his day, Domenico Cimarosa saw his fame spread all over Europe. Written towards the end of the ‘Neapolitan School’ era, his operas endured in popularity long after his death thanks to their melodic invention, colourful orchestration and sheer vitality. The overtures in this programme include I tre amanti (The Three Lovers), the hit opera that made Cimarosa’s name outside Naples, and Il pittor parigino (The Parisian Painter) and the tragedy Giunio Bruto that were admired by Haydn and conducted by him at the Esterházy court.
‘Maestro Halász’s approach to the music sounds suitably refined and appropriately lively. [He] negotiates a steady, reasonable course that does full justice to the music, and the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Pardubice, which numbers about thirty-five or so players, responds splendidly.’ – Classical Candor
Listen to an excerpt from
I finti nobili – Overture
I finti nobili – Overture
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8.573568 • Vol. 5
Domenico Cimarosa was one of the last great exponents of the ‘Neapolitan School’ and one of the most famous and successful composers before the arrival of Rossini on the European opera scene. His works were produced and re-staged at innumerable performances in opera houses all over Europe. This programme represents the extraordinary range of Cimarosa’s career, from Le trame deluse (The Foiled Schemes) and La villana riconosciuta (The Country Girl Revealed), which were among his greatest hits, to overtures from cantatas such as Atene edificata (The Founding of Athens) and the ‘dramatic composition’ for Cardinal de Bernis, written on the occasion of the birth of the Dauphin, the firstborn son of Louis XVI.
‘A wealth of well-made instrumental music that is very much of its time and is performed with considerable élan by the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice under Patrick Gallois.’ – Infodad.com ✭✭✭✭
Listen to an excerpt from
Atene edificata – Overture: I. Molto allegro con brio
Atene edificata – Overture: I. Molto allegro con brio
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8.574046 • Vol. 6
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Domenico Cimarosa’s operas were remarkably successful, being staged and re-staged in opera houses all over Europe. Success in his home town of Naples led to court appointments and royal commissions, including his best-known work Il matrimonio segreto (‘The Secret Marriage’) composed for Austrian emperor Leopold II. Other hits include L’impegno superato (‘The Broken Engagement’), an instant success and soon to become one of the most frequently performed of Cimarosa’s comic works, and Penelope that was produced as far away as London in 1817. The Cantata per Ferdinando IV was, however, written as an act of repentance, Cimarosa having made the mistake of backing the failed republican government in 1799.
‘During his four years in St Petersburg, [Cimarosa] began to use clarinets and to orchestrate them (overtures) fuller and richer. In Il matrimonio segreto, for example, the orchestra provided colour and independent, motivational and rhythmic material. Highly recommended.’ – Stretto
Listen to an excerpt from
Il matrimonio segreto – Overture (1792 Vienna version)
Il matrimonio segreto – Overture (1792 Vienna version)
Orchestras featured in the series
Czech Chamber Philharmonic
Orchestra Pardubice
Orchestra Pardubice
Nicolaus Esterházy
Sinfonia
Sinfonia
Sinfonia Finlandia
Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä
Toronto Chamber
Orchestra
Orchestra
Conductors featured in the series
Alessandro Amoretti
Patrick Gallois
Michael Halász
Kevin Mallon
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‘Pianist Victor Sangiorgio offers fine, dry readings on a modern piano. Classical-era keyboard specialists and enthusiasts will find music of interest here.’
– AllMusic.com
– AllMusic.com
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‘These are well-crafted, elegant, melodious, generally optimistic pieces… Victor Sangiorgio gives a faithful, cogent and infectious account of the music.’
– MusicWeb International
– MusicWeb International
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‘This rendition by one of Naxos’s usual-suspect orchestras, the Capella Istropolitana out of Slovakia, [is] well done.’
– Fanfare
– Fanfare
OAF4021D [DVD]
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‘The singer-actors are excellent, the costumes gorgeous, and stage settings rich and tasteful. The nearly three hours of this technically superb performance go by all too quickly!’
– The New Recordings,
Cliffs Classics
– The New Recordings,
Cliffs Classics
