Il castrato del granduca - Arias for Gaetano Berenstadt Filippo Mineccia, I musici del Gran Principe & Samuele Lastrucci

• George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759): Rinaldo: Aria:
• 1Handel: Rinaldo: Aria: Sorte amor vuol che quest’alma03:45
• 2Handel: Rinaldo: Aria: Ogni tua bella stilla03:57
• 3Handel: Rinaldo: Aria: Pregio è sol d’un alma forte03:38
• Attilio Ariosti (1666 - 1729): Tito Manlio:
• 4Ariosti: Tito Manlio: Ouverture05:21
• Antonio Lotti (1667 - 1740): Ascanio:
• 5Lotti: Ascanio: Aria: L’incauto che non teme02:56
• Francesco Gasparini (1661 - 1727): Astianatte: Aria:
• 6Gasparini: Astianatte: Aria: Vezzosetta tra questi fiori02:54
• Giovanni Maria Capelli (1648 - 1726): Giulio Flavio Crispo:
• 7Capelli: Giulio Flavio Crispo: Aria: Piaccia agl’astri ed al senato04:26
• George Frideric Handel: Ottone:
• 8Handel: Ottone: Ouverture04:59
• 9Handel: Ottone: Aria: Bel labro formato per farmi beato04:30
• Attilio Ariosti: Cajo Marzio Coriolano:
• 10Ariosti: Cajo Marzio Coriolano: Aria: Nel tuo figlio e nel tuo sposo04:27
• Giovanni Bononcini (1670 - 1747): Farnace:
• 11Bononcini: Farnace: Aria: O della sorte favor instabile03:55
• Johann Adolf Hasse (1699 - 1783): Astarto:
• 12Hasse: Astarto: Ouverture03:59
• 13Hasse: Astarto: Aria: Al fato io t’abbandono03:48
• Leonardo Vinci (1690 - 1730): Didone abbandonata:
• 14Vinci: Didone abbandonata: Aria: Tra lo splendor del trono05:25
• Domenico Sarro (1679 - 1744): Siroe re di Persia:
• 15Sarro: Siroe re di Persia: Aria: Gelido in ogni vena04:23
• Gioavvni Antonio Giay (1690 - 1764): Demetrio:
• 16Giay: Demetrio: Aria: Non fidi al mar che freme06:15
• Total Runtime01:08:38

Info for Il castrato del granduca - Arias for Gaetano Berenstadt

Francesco Gasparini was held in high esteem by his contemporaries, as can be easily seen from his curriculum vitae: In Rome he was in the service of the great patrons of the arts Cardinal Pamphili, Marchese Ruspoli and the Borghese family, and in between he was music director at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice for twelve years, at the same time as Antonio Vivaldi. Gasparini wrote a total of almost 60 operas and nearly 30 oratorios, which were performed in many Italian cities. The countertenor Filippo Mineccia has cherry-picked the repertoire that suits his voice and presents a portrait of Gasparini's alto arias. He was very careful to select arias with different affects in order to present Gasparini's broad dramatic palette. Slow arias are interspersed with furioso pieces and contrapuntal pieces. Particularly brilliant are the rage arias, in which Mineccia is able to display all his vocal prowess. In the richly orchestrated and harmonically exciting arias from Gasparini's oratorios, the Orchestra Nazionale Barocca dei Conservatori Italiani can shine with its qualities.

Filippo Minecca, countertenor
Orchestra Nazionale Barocca dei Conservatori Italiani
Paolo Perrone, conductor

Filippo Mineccia
Born in Florence countertenor Filippo Mineccia gained international recognition being considered by many as one of the greatest specialists in the repertoire of the glorious castrato era. ​

As a child, he studied singing at the Fiesole School of Music, joining its Polyphonic Choir. After graduating in voice and cello from the Luigi Cherubini Music Conservatory in Florence, he studied with Gianni Fabbrini and Donatella Debolini. ​

Filippo Mineccia distinguished himself by winning prizes both in national and international singing competitions. He collaborates with ensembles such as Accademia Bizantina, Les Talens Lyriques, I Barocchisti, Il Complesso Barocco, La Cappella della Pietà de’ Turchini, Opera Fuoco, La Barocca, Ensemble Inégal, Collegium 1704, Collegium Marianum, Capella Cracoviensis, Divino Sospiro, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Auser Musici, Cappella Mediterranea. ​

Mineccia has worked with conductors including Ottavio Dantone, Diego Fasolis, Václav Luks, Christophe Rousset, David Stern, Antonio Florio, Thomas Hengelbrock, Michael Hofstetter, Adam Viktora, Javier Ulises Illán, Ruben Jais, Enrico Onofri and the late Alan Curtis.

He has performed numerous Handel opera roles including Cesare and Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare, Alessandro in Tolomeo, Unulfo in Rodelinda, Dardano in Amadigi, Silla in Lucio Cornelio Silla, Ottone in Agrippina, Oronte in Riccardo Primo and Demetrio in Handel’s Berenice. ​

He was seen on stage as: Ottone in Monteverdi’s Incoronazione di Poppea, Endimione in Cavalli’s Calisto, Tamerlano in Gasparini’s Bajazet, Achille in Francesco Sacrati’s Finta pazza and Anassandro in Riccardo Broschi’s Merope. He also appeared in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.

Very much in demand for oratorios, his repertoire comprises Francesco Provenzale’s Passione and Stabat Mater, Antonio Caldara’s Passione di Gesù Cristo, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Haydn’s Missa Cellensis, Bach’s St John Passion, St Matthew Passion and Easter Oratorio, Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus and Stabat Mater. ​

Filippo Mineccia has issued several solo albums dedicated to unknown composers such as Attilio Ariosti, Leonardo Vinci, Niccolò Jommelli, Francesco Gasparini, Johann Adolph Hasse among others. He has recorded Handel’s Giulio Cesare (Tolomeo) with Il Complesso Barocco (Naïve) and Vivaldi’s Ercole sul Termodonte (DVD, Dynamic).

With the label Glossa he released the solo CD “Siface, L’amor castrato” with the Ensemble Nereydas conducted by Javier Ulises Illán followed by the album “Jerusalem” with the Pera Ensemble. Recently with Panclassic he released “The Paisiello Album: Arias for Castrato” a collection of outstanding opera arias recorded with the ensemble Divino Sospiro under the direction of Massimo Mazzeo. ​

Recent and future engagements include Nabucco by Michelangelo Falvetti with "Cappella Mediterranea" dir. L. G. Alarcon (Temple du Brassu, Switzerland), Messiah by G. F. Handel with "Ulster Orchestra" dir. Ruben Jais (Guildhall, Londonderry UK), Dulce sueño, music by I. Jerusalem with "Nereydas" dir. J. U. Illàn (Auditorio Nacional de Música, Spain), Erminia by A. Scarlatti with "Concerto de' Cavalieri" dir. Marcello di Lisa (Music Center De Bijloke, Belgium), Ariodante by G. F. Handel with "FestspielOrchester Göttingen" dir. L. Cummings (Göttingen Handel Festspiele, Germany), Timur und Bayezid by G. F. Handel, F. Gasparini with "Pera Ensemble" dir. Mehmet Jesilcay (Handel Festspiele Halle, Germany) and Bajazet by A. Vivaldi with "Accademia Bizantina" dir. Ottavio Dantone (Hamburg, Germany).

Recent and future engagements include the title role in Vivaldi’s Bajazet (also called Il Tamerlano) for the Irish National Opera, Caïn in Scarlatti’s Primo Omicido under Philippe Jaroussky/Ensemble Artaserse at Salzburg Mozarteum and Montpellier, Cleonte in Tomaso Albinoni’s Zenobia for the George Enescu Festival Bucharest and a revival in Dortmund and Versailles of Sacrati’s Finta pazza with Leonardo García Alarcón and its Cappella Mediterranea. Accompanied by the newly founded Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles conducted by Stefan Plewniak, Filippo records a project for 3 Countertenors which he presents at the Versailles Royal Opera. Additionally, he gives several concerts with Ensembe Nereydas (Spain), Arte dei Suonatori baroque orchestra (Letnica, Biecz), Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife (Tenerife Auditorium), Divino Sospiro (Lisbon), Accademia Bizantina (Hamburg) and Warsaw Chamber Opera (Warsaw).

This album contains no booklet.