Vivaldi: Amor profano

Simone Kermes, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Andrea Marcon

Released on 1/1/07 by Archiv Produktion
Main artists: Simone Kermes Venice Baroque Orchestra Andrea Marcon
Genre: Classical

Available in

16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

Antonio Vivaldi composed opera for Italian theaters for some three decades, often in connection with the Carnival season observed right before Lent. Not only did he write a lot of operas, he composed a great many opera arias and was not above revisiting an aria from a past effort and dressing it up anew for a subsequent one. A sobering amount of opera arias extant from Vivaldi's pen exist for which musicologists have no idea -- and will likely never know -- what stage works they were intended for. One of these, the lovely "La Farfalletta Audace" (Bold Little Butterfly) is heard for the first time, along with four other recording premieres, on Archiv's Amor Profano featuring soprano Simone Kermes as supported by the Venice Baroque Orchestra under Andrea Marcon. The theme behind the collection focuses on Vivaldi's settings that deal with affairs of the heart, a subject that as an ordained priest he wasn't expected know much about, but from the gory details of Vivaldi's biography, we are aware that he knew a great deal. The music in these settings demonstrates that very attribute throughout the collection -- the setting of "Ah, Fuggi Rapido" from Orlando Furioso, with its less-than-dignified refrain of "The vile flame within you is a flame of hell, and not of love" is appropriately violent and turbulent in Vivaldi's setting. Therefore, this is a really good starting point for a collection of Vivaldi arias, based on a thematic concept as opposed to one determined by the range of a given singer or an arrangement of historic significance.
Throughout Amor Profano, Simone Kermes acquits herself well -- this is some of the hardest music written for soprano. Just listen to where she has to start at the recap of the opening of "Ah, Fuggi Rapido" mentioned earlier -- way up high. She gets to come back down, go quickly back up again a couple of times, and then roll through a complicated series of trills and roulades that would easily trip up the tongues belonging to the best singers. Marcon and the Venice Baroque Orchestra demonstrate a bit more restraint here than is the usual wont, but the players mainly seem concerned with not upstaging Kermes. They do get a chance to shine in the thrilling Sinfonia to Il Tamerlano (aka Bajazet) included to break up the program.
Archiv's Amor Profano is a very good collection of Vivaldi arias and a nice showcase for Kermes' talents. It may not set one on fire as Fabio Biondi's Virgin set of the whole opera Bajazet does. However, for those devoted to Vivaldi's vocal music, this will make for a proud addition to your shelf and provide much enjoyment, not to mention five "new" Vivaldi arias.

© TiVo

More info

Vivaldi: Amor profano

Simone Kermes

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From $10.83/month

L'Olimpiade, RV 725 (Antonio Vivaldi)

Siam navi all'onde

Simone Kermes

00:06:45

Antonio Vivaldi, Composer - Hans Bernhard Bätzing, Producer, Editor, Recording Producer - Simone Kermes, Soprano, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Venice Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - Andrea Marcon, Conductor, Adapter, MainArtist - Ulrich Vette, Balance Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jürgen Bulgrin, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Marita Prohmann, Producer