Monteverdi and Cavalli, two Venitians in Naples - Les Talens Lyriques

Sunday the 8th of June 2025, 11:30
Festival de l'Abbaye de Saint-Michel en Thiérache, Saint-Michel en Thiérache (France) 

Saturday the 28th of June 2025, 20:30
Monteverdi Festival Cremona, Cremona (Italy) 
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« In this programme, Christophe Rousset has chosen to highlight excerpts from L’Incoronazione di Poppea (that premiered in 1642 in Venice), the last opera composed by Monteverdi. The programme begins with its overture, known as the “Naples” version, and includes two duets beautifully performed by Apolline and Thaïs Raï Westphal. In these duets – those of Nero and Poppea, or Valetto and Damigella – Monteverdi crafted a musical language, uniquely his own, blending poetry, song, and instrumental music for a perfect balance, serving the expression of the affetti.

There are arias from a much lesser-known opera too, Il Ciro, originally composed in Naples by Francesco Provenzale and later reworked by Francesco Cavalli in Venice. Our version is Cavalli’s, first performed in 1654. During his lifetime, Cavalli was a celebrated and renowned composer. Today, he is considered alongside Monteverdi, as one of the founding fathers of Italian opera.

The instrumental pieces include sinfonias from another Cavalli opera, Veremonda, and a sonata by the Neapolitan composer Andrea Falconieri from 1650. The sonata L’Eroica, from his Primo Libro, is described by musicologist Colin Timms as being written “in a fresh and lively style, with much imitation between the melody and the bass lines. »

– Adèle Bertin, former musicologist and librarian for Les Talens Lyriques

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PROGRAM

Claudio MONTEVERDI (1567-1643)
L’incoronazione di Poppea (1642)
Ouverture
Duo de Néron et Poppée “Signor, signor oggi rinasco”, Acte III, scène 5 

Francesco CAVALLI (1602-1676)
Veremonda l’amazzone di Aragona, “Il Delio”, (1652)
Sinfonia, Prologo 

Francesco PROVENZALE (1632-1704) / Francesco CAVALLI (1602-1676)
Il Ciro (1654)
Air d’Elmera “O rigor d’iniqua stella”, Acte I, scène 3 

Francesco CAVALLI (1602-1676)
Veremonda l’amazzone di Aragona, “Il Delio”, (1652)
Sinfonia 

Francesco PROVENZALE (1632-1704) / Francesco CAVALLI (1602-1676)
Il Ciro (1654)
Air de Euretto “Amanti fuggite”, Acte I, scène 8  

Andrea FALCONIERI (1585-1656)
Il primo Libro (1650)
“L’Eroica, sonata a tre”  

Claudio MONTEVERDI (1567-1643)
L’incoronazione di Poppea (1642)
Duo de Valetto et Damigella “Sento un certo”, Acte II, scène 4

CAST

Apolline & Thaïs Raï-Westphal, sopranos  

Gilone Gaubert & Benjamin Chénier, violins
Emmanuel Jacques, cello
Karl Nyhlin, lute 

Christophe Rousset, harpsichord, organ & direction