Bruno de Sá

Bruno de Sá, soprano Cecilia Molinari, mezzo-soprano Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto Soloists of the ensemble La Sportelle Les Accents Thibault Noally, conductor Three exceptional voices for two rare pieces…

Bruno de Sá, soprano

Cecilia Molinari, mezzo-soprano

Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto

Soloists of the ensemble La Sportelle

Les Accents

Thibault Noally, conductor

Three exceptional voices for two rare pieces by Corelli and Scarlatti.

Corelli: Concerto for Christmas Night, Op. 6 No. 8

Scarlatti: Cantata for Christmas Night

In brief

Bach and traditional carols are not the only way to celebrate Christmas. Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713), often regarded as the inventor of the sonata and the concerto, although traces of these forms can already be found in Legrenzi, Bononcini and Stradella, was the one who gave them their true standing by defining a more precise form for each. His concerto "for Christmas Night", one of his best-known pages, was composed in 1690 for his patron and protector, Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. His contemporary, the Neapolitan Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725), was just as prolific in the genre, as close to 600 of his works are known. As in Corelli's "Christmas" concerto, Scarlatti introduces in his cantata a refined evocation of the bagpipes and shawms played by the shepherds of the Roman countryside as they made their way to Rome to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Two pieces of great delicacy to celebrate the Nativity.

Production: Les Grandes Voix