A Cavalli palette for Christina Pluhar

There is not really an opera entitled L’amore innamorato by Cavalli, or, rather, it no longer exists, since a work of this name, written in 1642, was lost, along with a dozen other Cavalli operas. In reality, Christina Pluhar and her sumptuous L’Arpeggiata ensemble have made choices from the multitude of other operas by Cavalli, from 1644’s L’ormindo to 1667’s Eliogabalo, in order to establish a kind of pastiche. To do so, they have gathered amongst themselves the most sumptuous tunes from the instrumentals of the brilliant composer. For the record, here L’Arpeggiata take care of a number of different instruments expertly. We experience the theorbo and baroque harp of Pluhar herself, alongside various violas, trumpets, baroque violins, archlutes, baroque guitars, psalteries, and lirone; a veritable arsenal of what was available in the late Renaissance and early Baroque period, an incredible wealth of sounds of all kinds. Christina Pluhar has succeeded, here, offering us a wonderful range of the thirty year creative life of Cavalli.

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