In the year 2009 Daniela Dolci discovered an interesting opera with obbligato cornett arias in the Austrian National Library that had been listed as a work by Giacomo Perti; with her ensemble Musica Fiorita, she gave concertante performances of the arias of the protagonists Rosinda and Emireno. After this, it turned out that not Perti, but Alessandro Scarlatti is the composer of this opera. The opera, premiered in Naples in 1697, is set in the city of Memphis in an idealised Egypt. The plot - as is usual for operas of this period - is quite intricate and complicated. Various love relationships and hardships connect the protagonists, with the conflict over the Egyptian throne being argued out at the same time. The arias are musically appealing, especially due to the use of a cornett (played by Bork-Frithjof Smith with virtuosity and beauty of tone). This instrument had in fact been long out of fashion at the time when the opera was composed, but its timbre is ideal for highly emotional, expressive passages. The countertenor Alex Potter interprets the female protagonist Rosinda in a lyrical, elegiac manner, whilst the soprano Alice Borciani lends brilliance to the role of Emireno with her flawless high range. The recording includes all the arias of these two figures, supplemented by another aria with obbligato cornett that was indeed composed by Perti, as well as several instrumental sonatas of Giovanni Legrenzi.
