Search - Johann Adolf Hasse, Mario Merigo, San Rocco Academy Orchestra (Venice) :: Piramo & Tisbe

You DO Get What You Pay For...

Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 09/05/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"...sometimes, at least. There are three recordings available on ammy of Hasse's operatic intermezzo Piramo e Thisbe, written late in the great man's career when he was already hearing Mozart over his shoulder. Lately I've been tipping in Hasse's favor, especially after hearing the superb recording of his oratorio "I Pellegrini al Sepolcro" by I Seminario Musicale. He was, after all, the most applauded composer of the mid-18th Century. You'll never know why from listening to this performance of Piramo, however, and I have no good reason to think the others would be better. I chose the cheapest of the three. The orchestra is capable enough but utterly insensitive to the lessons of period instruments and historical practices. The singers, all three, are of another era, and it isn't the Baroque. In fact, it's the era of shrill and wobbly vibratos, precisely cultivated to obscure any beauty of consonance and cadence. AND! There's no libretto in the jewel case! Just some niggling notes about the 20-bit recording technology.



I'm still waiting for the Resurrection of Johann Adolf Hasse, who wrote close to 60 operas which held the stage throughout Europe in his lifetime against the competition of Handel, Gluck, and Pergolesi. Wish me luck!"