New Classical Tracks: Vivaldi's long-lost score

Imagine being a music scholar whose nose is constantly buried in dusty archives looking for who knows what. Then one day, after years of research, you make a discovery like the one Australian musicologist Janice Stockigt experienced last year. It rocked the Baroque music world! While quietly examining manuscripts by 18th-century Venetian composer Baldassarre Galuppi in the Dresden library, she unearthed a score that looked out of place. It turned out to be a long-lost score by another great Venetian, Antonio Vivaldi. It's known as the "Dixit Dominus" Psalm, which Vivaldi wrote for the Dresden court in the 1730s. It lay unnoticed for 200 years because of money; a copyist deliberately attributed this psalm to Galuppi so he could cash in on that composer's popularity at the time.

This new release features the first recording of Vivaldi's psalm. Also on the CD are three psalms by Galuppi--a timely inclusion since 2006 marks Galuppi's 300th birth anniversary.

Conductor Peter Kopp is especially interested in rediscovered gems from Dresden's music history. He leads a group he founded in 1993, the Kornerscher Sing-Verein Dresden--the Korner choral society of Dresden. The group is named after Christian Gottfried Korner (a friend of German poets Schiller and Goethe), who formed a circle of amateur singers in Dresden to study and perform challenging works, just for the fun of it.

On this recording, the ensemble certainly has fun with this newly-discovered sacred work by Vivaldi. The chorus is joined by a handpicked cast of first-class Baroque soloists and the Dresdner Instrumental-Concert.

The work is Vivaldi's third known setting of this text, based on Psalm 109. It's a large-scale piece for six soloists, choir and orchestra. This is the first psalm sung at vespers, so Vivaldi gave it a festive tone by using the celebratory key of D major and a trumpet. It's a dazzling work that The New York Times says is worthy of standing alongside Vivaldi's very well-known choral work, "Gloria." I agree. The "Gloria" is one of those pieces that energizes and invigorates. For me, there is no difference with Vivaldi's newly-found "Dixit Dominus."

It contains a number of striking features, starting with the clean sound, and the exceptional balance between the choir and the orchestra. The overall teamwork on this recording makes the performance magical. The soloists are impressive, performing the vocal gymnastics effortlessly. Scottish tenor Paul Agnew offers a good example in the aria "Dominus a dextris tuis," as he punctuates every note with the utmost flexibility. There are two short duets for two sopranos featuring Roberta Invernizzi and Lucia Cirillo. They're so lovely I wish Vivaldi would have written more than two minutes' worth of music for them.

The three Galuppi psalms that appear on this recording were also composed for the Dresden court for which Baldassare Galuppi wrote much of the sacred vocal music they used.. In these psalms, he adopted a format similar to Vivaldi's, mixing choruses, solos and duets. He composed two of the psalms in major keys, giving them a lighter, more optimistic feel. The "Nisi Dominus," based on Psalms 126 and 127, is set in a minor key, creating a darker mood. There's nothing dismal or depressing about this piece, though--it's highlighted by a radiant, carefree duet for two sopranos in the third movement.

In the world of classical music, it's exciting to know that there are still surprises to experience. Thanks to the scholars who persevere in all of those musty, dusty archives, we have this recording of newly discovered and previously unrecorded Baroque choral works by Vivaldi and his contemporary, Galuppi. It is truly a treasure worth having in your own music library.

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