{"product_id":"the-trials-of-tenducci-a-castrato-in-ireland-1","title":"The Trials of Tenducci: A Castrato in Ireland","description":"\u003cp\u003ePeter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra explore the music in Ireland from the 1750s to 1770s. Following a live performance, The Irish Times wrote that ‘Whelan and the IBO are lively guides to this repertoire’ which marks a revolutionary moment where the structures of Baroque music break down and we see the emergence of the Classical style. Many trailblazing early classical composers visited Ireland during this time including van Maldere, Pasquali and Giordani (some even incorporate Irish traditional melodies into their symphonies).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePerhaps the most famous visitor to Ireland at this time was the superstar castrato, Giusto Tenducci, who had works especially written for him by Mozart, Haydn and J. C. Bach. To tell his swashbuckling tale, IBO is joined by present-day superstar Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught, performing works which would have been sung by Tenducci in Ireland. This programme also includes modern-day premieres from the collection at the National Library of Ireland including van Maldere’s Sinfonia in G, known as the ‘Dublin’ Sinfonia, Giordani’s much-admired Overture and Irish Medley to the entertainment of The Isle of Saints and The Braes of Ballenden by J. C. Bach.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eREVIEWS:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"hreview\"\u003ePeter Whelan directs from the fortepiano and the orchestra consists of 11 strings, oboes, bassoon and horns, and the disc was recorded in a period-appropriate venue, a lovely 18th century church in Drogheda. \u003cstrong\u003eThe musicians are on terrific form, whether it be giving us Mozartian (or Bachian) grace or launching into Irish folk tunes. In the arias Tara Erraught both engages and impresses\u003c\/strong\u003e, she sings with a lovely warm tone yet can whizz through the passagework as well.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"hreview\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"hreview\"\u003eThe Italian soprano castrato Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci (c. 1735–90) seems to have had a remarkably eventful life, including a period in a debtors' prison in Southwark, a short period on the run...This is a lovely, imaginative disc which provides interesting highlights of a singer who was clearly heavily involved in both the English and Irish music scenes. \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"hreview\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhilst in Dublin...Tenducci also arranged operas for the Smock Alley Theatre. We hear two arias from the opera. First the virtuoso ‘Amid a thousand racking woes’ which Erraught sings with warm tone and engaging bravura, well supported by the orchestra in what is quite a substantial instrumental accompaniment. The second aria is the simpler lament, ‘Water parted from the sea’ which understandably became the hit number, so much so that Dublin street boys sang a song about him which was quoted and parodied by James Joyce in \u003cem\u003eFinnegan's Wake.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohann Christian Bach was in fact another of Tenducci's friends...When Tenducci visited Edinburgh in the 1760s for the Scottish premiere of \u003cem\u003eArtaxerxes\u003c\/em\u003e, he got Bach to arrange some Scottish songs for him which were included in the production(!). Two have been lost, but we are able to hear Bach's version of \u003cem\u003eThe Braes of Ballenden\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1778, Bach was in Paris auditioning singers for the production of his opera \u003cem\u003eAmadis de Gaule\u003c\/em\u003e and Tenducci was with him. Also in Paris at the time was Mozart, to whom Tenducci taught singing. Mozart wrote to his father ‘\u003cem\u003eTenducci is here … He is Bach’s bosom friend. He also was greatly delighted to see me again … I am composing a scena for Tenducci, which is to be performed on Sunday; it is for pianoforte, oboe, horn and bassoon\u003c\/em\u003e’ (27 August 1778). Frustratingly, the work is now lost, so the performers complete the programme with another work by Mozart written in the 1770s for another star castrato, sacred motet \u003cem\u003eExsultate, jubilate, K. 165\u003c\/em\u003e[.]\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere Whelan and his forces have created an engaging and fascinating recital which draws a number of threads together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e-- \u003c\/em\u003ePlanet Hugill\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Linn Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":49705166831896,"sku":"691062063920","price":15.74,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/3920574-2680035.jpg?v=1777783827","url":"https:\/\/hbdirect.com\/products\/the-trials-of-tenducci-a-castrato-in-ireland-1","provider":"HBDirect","version":"1.0","type":"link"}