An Italian castrato, pianist, voice teacher, and concert impresario, Venanzio Rauzzini was on top of it all a respected and highly accomplished composer of operas. Prior to the beginning of his compositional career, Rauzzini made his professional opera debut at the Teatro Valle in Rome in 1765. He made a good living portraying female characters. He even got the attention of W. A. Mozart, who reacted with delight when he heard Rauzzini singing and offered him the role of primo uomo in his Lucio Silla, in Milan, before composing the motet Exsultate Jubilate especially for him. This album presents some of the finest work from Ruazzini’s operas, beautifully sung, and accompanied by the superb Hungarian period instrument orchestra Capella Savaria, conducted by Mary Terey-Smith. Capella Savaria has been performing together since 1981. They specialize in music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and have performed across Europe in addition to their numerous recordings. They were recipients of the Liszt Prize in 1991.
