Angelica e Medoro (Porpora)

Angelica e Medoro is a 1720 serenata by Nicola Porpora to libretto by Metastasio, after Ludovico Ariosto. The opera, written to celebrate the birthday of the Habsburg emperor, Charles VI and performed 28 August 1720 Naples, Palazzo del Principe di Torella, marked the debut of the castrato Farinelli.^[1]

Recordings

Orlando: Robert Expert, Olga Pitarch, Betsabee Haas, Real Compania Opera de Camara, Juan Bautista Otero K617, 2005^[2]^[3]^[4]
L'Angelica Ekaterina Bakanova, Teresa Iervolino, Paola Valentina Molinari, La Lira di Orfeo, Federico Maria Sardelli 2 CDs Dynamic 2021

References

^ Daniel Heartz, John A. Rice -From Garrick to Gluck: Essays on Opera in the Age of Enlightenment 2004 1576470814 "Born in Apulia in 1705, he was trained in Naples by Nicola Porpora, the performance of whose serenata Angelica e Medoro, written to celebrate the birthday of the Habsburg emperor, was the occasion of Farinelli 's debut in 1720. The poet was none other than Metastasio, who elaborated on the significance of the event in his preface to La Nitteti, set by Nicola Conforto and sent to Farinelli for its premiere at Madrid in 1756: "the affectionate name of twin, used between the Cavaliere ...
^ Opera - Volume 57, Issues 7-12 - Page 1133 (2006): "Angelica also marked Farinelli's operatic debut. ... And it must be said that a coherent drama emerges involving the familiar story of Ariosto's knight Orlando, the odd man out in a love triangle including Angelica and Medoro."
^ Concerto: Das Magazin für Alte Musik - Volume 22 - Page 22 (2005): "Einen gewichtigen Beitrag zur Rehabilitierung Porporas leistete im Mai dieses Jahres die Real Compania Opera de Cämara mit zwei Aufführungen der Serenade »Angelica e Medoro« in einer Neubearbeitung, umbenannt in »Orlando«, unter der Leitung von Juan Bautista Otero im Rahmen des vor sieben Jahren gegründeten Festivals Müsica Antigua Aranjuez."
^ Goldberg: Early Music Magazine 2006 - Issues 38-39 - Page 91: Juan Batista Otero considers L'Angelica (re-named Orlando by him) the most important work of Porpora's first compositional period. Accordingly, it is hard to understand why he has taken the incredible liberties his notes describe...

[1] Daniel Heartz, John A. Rice -From Garrick to Gluck: Essays on Opera in the Age of Enlightenment 2004 1576470814 "Born in Apulia in 1705, he was trained in Naples by Nicola Porpora, the performance of whose serenata Angelica e Medoro, written to celebrate the birthday of the Habsburg emperor, was the occasion of Farinelli 's debut in 1720. The poet was none other than Metastasio, who elaborated on the significance of the event in his preface to La Nitteti, set by Nicola Conforto and sent to Farinelli for its premiere at Madrid in 1756: "the affectionate name of twin, used between the Cavaliere ...

[2] Opera - Volume 57, Issues 7-12 - Page 1133 (2006): "Angelica also marked Farinelli's operatic debut. ... And it must be said that a coherent drama emerges involving the familiar story of Ariosto's knight Orlando, the odd man out in a love triangle including Angelica and Medoro."

[3] Concerto: Das Magazin für Alte Musik - Volume 22 - Page 22 (2005): "Einen gewichtigen Beitrag zur Rehabilitierung Porporas leistete im Mai dieses Jahres die Real Compania Opera de Cämara mit zwei Aufführungen der Serenade »Angelica e Medoro« in einer Neubearbeitung, umbenannt in »Orlando«, unter der Leitung von Juan Bautista Otero im Rahmen des vor sieben Jahren gegründeten Festivals Müsica Antigua Aranjuez."

[4] Goldberg: Early Music Magazine 2006 - Issues 38-39 - Page 91: Juan Batista Otero considers L'Angelica (re-named Orlando by him) the most important work of Porpora's first compositional period. Accordingly, it is hard to understand why he has taken the incredible liberties his notes describe...

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