Amore Siciliano

Love, drama and betrayal under the Sicilian sun

Baroque composers perfected the art of recycling. They happily borrowed, arranged and transformed the works of others, navigating between learned forms and popular traditions with a freedom that was later abandoned during the classical era. Alarcón was trained by the strictest European masters, he has always hung onto the fantasy and melodrama of his native Argentina. Now he and the musicians and singers of Cappella Mediterranea have taken on the pastiche, which consists of creating new works by juxtaposing and reworking existing pieces by different composers. The programme includes compositions by Roland de Lassus, Sigismondo d’India and Alessandro Scarlatti, who refashioned anonymous tarantellas and lamenti full of vitality, emotion and violence. The misfortunes of Cecilia and her melancholic Calabrian melody are threaded throughout the whole drama, inviting us to step back in time to the southern Italy of three centuries ago.

Program

Qual Suono – Vincenzo Tozzi (Messina 1612 – 1679)
Kyrie eleison – Roland de Lassus (Mons 1532 – Munich 1594)
Fermarono i cieli – Anonimo
Ho vinto, Amor – Tommaso Carapella (Cerreto Sannita 1665 – Napoli 1736)
U Ciucciu – anonimo
Va, ché l’hai fatto a me – Cataldo Amodei (Sciacca 1650 – Napoli 1695)
La canzone di Cecilia – anonimo
Mercé! Grido piangendo – Sigismondo d’India (Palermo 1582 – Modena 1629)
Amantissime Jesu (Sinfonia) – Pasquale Carroza (Messina XVII)
In solitare arene – Cataldo Amodei
Caro amante – Corrado Bonfiglio
Ojos, pues me desdeñais – Jose Marin (Madrid 1618- 1699)
Canzona francesa cromatica – Giovanni M. Trabaci (Montepeloso 1575- Napoli 1647)
Dispietata Pietate – Sigismondo d’India (Sorrento 1544 – Roma 1595)
La Parca – Cataldo Amodei
Tirannide Vezzosa – Cataldo Amodei
A riturnella – Anonimo
Tarantela Española – Santiago de Murcia (1673-1739)
Mori mi dici – Alessandro Scarlatti (Trappani 1660 – Napoli 1725)
Piangono al pianger moi – Sigismondo d’India (Florence 1562 -1621)
Madrigal à 5 en fugue sur La Canzone di Cecilia – Leonardo Garcia- Alarcon (Buenos Aires)
1976)

Duration: approx. 1 hour 20 minutes with intermission

Artists

Ana Vieira Leite – soprano – Cecilia
Mariana Flores, soprano – Donna Isabella
Léo Fernique, counter tenor – Santino
Valerio Contaldo – tenor – Don Lidio
Matteo Bellotto – bass – Giuseppe (Peppino)

Leonardo García Alarcón – director
Cappella Mediterranea

Album to be released in 2024