Alessandro Scarlatti Griselda opera to libretto by Apostolo Zeno. Directed 2021 by Rosetta Cucchi at the Valle d’Itria Festival. Stars Raffaele Pe (Gualtiero), Carmela Remigio (Griselda), Francesca Ascioti (Ottone), Mariam Battistelli (Costanza), Krystian Adam (Corrado), Miriam Albano (Roberto), and Carlo Buonfrate (Everardo). Special Extras are Roberta Chirulli, Vanessa Liberto, and Serena Rizzi. Extras are Marco Chiatante, Fabio Convertini, Alberta Demita, Michela Desé, Donato Liberto, Lorenzo Sportelli, Antonella Trisciuzzi, and Alessandro Villanova. George Petrou conducts La Lira di Orfeo and the Coro Ghislieri (Chorus Master Giulio Prandi). Assistant directors are Davide Gasparro and Marco Fragnelli; set design by Tiziano Santi (with assistant set designer Alessia Colosso); costume design by Claudia Pernigotti; lighting design by Pasquale Mari (with assistant lighting designer Gianni Bertoli); sound recording by Rino Trasi and Vera Zanotti; sound editing and mixing by Rino Trasi. Directed for TV by Marco Scalfi. Sung in Italian. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Another 300-year old resurrection by the Italians. This was first performed in 1721 by an all male cast of tenors and castratos. It’s a variation on the “patient (long-suffering) Griselda” folk story. A King has serious female problems, but all ends well. I usually exclude outdoor performances. I make an exception for the courtyard at the Palazzo Ducale in Martina Franca because the space is so small and cozy. I also don’t like semi-staged productions. Well, the staging seen in the trailer below is simple, but also mysteriously elegent and satisfying. Roger Pines reviewed this in the March 2023 Opera News (pages 50-51). He says “the singers all demonstrate exceptional vocal flexibility, authentic style and vivid textual projection” and he also praises the “immaculate” playing of La Lira di Orfeo. A mysterious force has moved my hand to put this on my buy list.
Here’s a trailer:
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