ARTISTS

Max Emanuel Cencic – Counter tenor
Dimitris Karakantas – Violin
Evita Schwarz – Violin
Michal Stahel – Violoncello
Jakub Mitrik – Lute
Jason Marmaras – Harpsichord

PROGRAMME

Giovanni Bononcini
Cantatas for Voice Solo, Violins and Basso continuo

Misero pastorello
Sinfonia – Recitativo: “Misero Pastorello” – Aria: “Se tarda l’Aurora” – Recitativo: “Consolati cor mio” – Aria: “Sì, sì, vi riverdrò campagne belle”

A shepherd boy returns to his rural home after a lost love, hoping to find inner peace again.

Già la stagion d’Amore
Sinfonia – Recitativo: “Già la stagione d’Amore” – Aria: “Vaghe rose aprite il seno” – Recitativo: “Pastorella gentile io le risposi” – Aria: “Occhi vezzosi”

Dialogue between a young shepherd and a young shepherdess who meet each other shamefully but erotically charged.

Lasciami un sol momento
Sinfonia – Aria: Lasciami un sol momento” – Recitativo: È possible oh Dio” – Aria: “Soffro in pace la catena”

A shepherdess named Dorinda laments her fate after being abandoned by her lover Eurillo.

Siedi Amarilli mia
Sinfonia – Ritornello: “Siedi Amarilli mia” – Recitativo: “Qui lungi io dal timor” – Ritornello: “Siedi Amarilli mia” – Recitativo: “Quest’erbe questi fior questi ruscelli” – Ritornello: “Siedi Amarilli mia” – Aria: “Io ti miro e poi sospiro” – Recitativo: “Ah sì chi I tuoi begl’occhi” – Aria: “Se scherzo e ride”

Dialogue between Amarilli and Fileno, who are ashamed of their love in front of the other shepherds and cannot find words because of their infatuation.

ABOUT

Giovanni Bononcini was, before he died completely impoverished in Vienna, an internationally sought-after star: Rome, Venice, Vienna, Berlin – all the important musical centres of Europe were eager for his works, until he was ordered to London in 1720 to compete with the great George Frideric Handel, which he successfully did! It was only posterity that put him in Handel’s shadow, but his contemporary audience adored his highly emotional arias, and “his” singers loved him for his brilliant ability to compose for the human voice. Moreover, Bononcini brought the cantata genre to a new height. Max Emanuel Cencic dedicates this concert to Bononcini’s rich cantata oeuvre – works that tell of the joys and sorrows of love in a bucolic manner and leave no eye dry and no heart untouched; sometimes touching and painful, sometimes lively and cheerful.