Cavalli: L’Ormindo
Raymond Leppard
Label
Decca
Catalogue No.
4829382
Barcode
00028948293827
Format
2-CD
About

A landmark in Baroque opera recordings, newly remastered.

This ‘royal entertainment in music’ was fashioned by Cavalli to a libretto by Giovanni Faustini for performance in Venice in 1644, two years after ‘L’incoronazione di Poppaea’ saw the light of day. Through the course of ‘Ormindo’ we follow the adventures of two pairs of lovers as they betray, deceive and flee from each other before the inevitable happy ending. A death scene in prison for the eponymous prince and his sweetheart Erisbe is marked by a grave pathos that sounds down the centuries – at least since Raymond Leppard exhumed the score from total obscurity.

Conducting ‘Ormindo’ at the 1967 Glyndebourne Festival, Leppard spearheaded the modern revival of Cavalli’s fortunes. Critics noted the conductor’s significant revisions and rearrangements but they were almost unanimous in their gratitude at hearing and seeing on stage the work of a pioneering opera composer for the first time and in performances that did full justice to both music and drama. Leppard and Glyndebourne assembled a sumptuous continuo section and cast, well-schooled for the time in the ornate language of seventeenth-century Venetian opera.

The popular and critical success of ‘Ormindo’ at Glyndebourne gave rise to a sequel with Leppard’s similarly imaginative realisation of ‘Calisto’ which has also been reissued by Eloquence (482 9382). ‘L’Ormindo’ has long been unavailable and the package includes Raymond Leppard’s original note and a synopsis.

TRACK LISTING / ARTISTS

FRANCESCO CAVALLI
L’Ormindo

Ormindo – John Wakefield
Amida – Peter-Christoph Runge
Nerillo – Isabel Garcisanz
Sicle – Hanneke van Bork
Melide – Jean Allister
Erice – Hugues Cuénod
Erisebe – Anne Howells
Mirinda – Jane Berbié
Ariadeno – Federico Davia
Osmano – Richard Van Allan

London Philharmonic Orchestra
Raymond Leppard

Track previews
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Sinfonia
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): No no, non vo' più amare
L'Ormindo, Act 2 (Realised by R. Leppard): Son morti questi adulteri?
L'Ormindo, Act 2 (Realised by R. Leppard): Ahi, spirò la mia vita
L'Ormindo, Act 2 (Realised by R. Leppard): Concosco gl'apparati
L'Ormindo, Act 2 (Realised by R. Leppard): In grembo al caro amato
L'Ormindo, Act 2 (Realised by R. Leppard): Ah pigri! Che tardate?
L'Ormindo, Act 2 (Realised by R. Leppard): Che dirà, che farà
L'Ormindo, Act 2 (Realised by R. Leppard): Che rimiro? Oh stupore
L'Ormindo, Act 2 (Realised by R. Leppard): E' questo, s'io non erro
L'Ormindo, Act 2 (Realised by R. Leppard): Quanto esclamasti
L'Ormindo, Act 2 (Realised by R. Leppard): Che città, che città
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Volevo amar anch'io
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Miracolo d'amore
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Dove, mia bella Aurora
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Auree trecce inanellate, che non fate?
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Se del Perù le vene
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Oh dell'anima mia
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Eccola appunto, Ormindo
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Se nel sen di giovinetti
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Verginella infelice
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Perfidissimo Amida
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Huat, hanat, Ista
L'Ormindo, Act 1 (Realised by R. Leppard): Quel che creduto io non avrei pur vidi
L'Ormindo, Act 2 (Realised by R. Leppard): Un talamo ed un letto
Recording information

Recording Producer: Michael Bremner
Balance Engineers: Kenneth Wilkinson, Stanley Goodall
Recording Location: Glyndebourne Organ Room, Glyndebourne, UK, 6, 7, 9 & 10 August 1968
Original Argo LP Release: ZNF 8–10

Reviews

‘Leppard […] welds all his forces together to produce one of those wonderfully integrated performances that still characterizes Glyndebourne at its best.’ Opera magazine, April 1969

‘Every note here sounds perfectly wonderful. The Glyndebourne performers are all first-rate.’ High Fidelity, June 1969

‘Isabel Garcisanz as the Page nearly steals the show, although Anne Howells conveys much of the heroine Erisbe’s fascination … Hugues Cuenod as Erice manages to be funny without ever being embarrassing because of his impeccable musical taste.’ Musical Times, August 1969