Leonardo García Alarcón and his Cappella Mediterranea bring Sacrati’s opera back to life. Discover this opera that was the first to be performed in Paris and gave young Louis XIV a taste for dancing!
For this first recording, Sacrati’s colourful work benefits from an excellent cast of fifteen coherent singers. They’re supported by the stunning Capella Mediterranea Ensemble, comprised of lutes, archlutes, guitars, harps, harpsichords, organs, viols and lyres. La Finta pazza played a significant role in introducing Italian opera to France, and it’s wonderful to see it being played in the country once again after an absence of nearly four centuries.
François Hudry for Qobuz
Recorded from 9 to 13 June 2021 at l’Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles.
148 minutes.
Released on 27 May 2022 by Château de Versailles Spectacles
Long considered a “ghost composer”, Francesco Sacrati (1605-1650) has been given a new lease of life following the discovery of his opera La Finta pazza in 1984 (discovered by musicologist Lorenzo Bianconi). Composed in 1641 in Venice by the greatest musicians of the time, it was the first opera to be performed at the French court (1645) before the young King Louis XIV. It may have even triggered his passion for dance.
This opera beautifully combines lyrics and music and is somewhat similar in style to Monteverdi and Cavall. It was performed at Versailles in 2019 as part of the Opéra Royal by Capella Mediterranea (conducted by founder Leonardo García Alarcón). The present recording, made two years later at the very same venue, reveals Sacrati to be a first class composer who, according to García Alarcón, also participated in the creation of Monteverdi’s enigmatic Incoronazione di Poppea.
The recovered score is almost complete, except for the instrumental prologue and a few ritornellos (the violin parts of which are not notated, as was common practice at the time). There are numerous comical moments throughout the work, as well as erotic passages typical of the time period. There are also hunting scenes, sleeping scenes and scenes that are quite gruesome in nature, as well as one of the first mad scenes in the history of opera. With a libretto that re-establishes women in leading roles, Finta pazza is still very much in tune with the modern day.
For this first recording, Sacrati’s colourful work benefits from an excellent cast of fifteen coherent singers. They’re supported by the stunning Capella Mediterranea Ensemble, comprised of lutes, archlutes, guitars, harps, harpsichords, organs, viols and lyres. La Finta pazza played a significant role in the export of Italian opera to France, and it’s wonderful to see it being played in the country once again after almost four centuries of absence.
François Hudry for Qobuz
