Philippe Jaroussky - Max Emanuel Cencic: IL Sant' Alessio (Stefano Landi) video free download

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Philippe Jaroussky, Max Emanuel Cencic, Alain Buet, Xavier Sabata, Damien Guillon, Pascal Bertin, José Lemos, Luigi De Donato, Jean-Paul Bonnevalle

La Maîtrise de Caen - Les Arts Florissants / William Christie

Stage director: Benjamin Lazar

Stefano Landi (baptized February 26, 1587 October 28, 1639): Italian composer and teacher of the early Baroque Roman School. First performed at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome in 1632, Landis SantAlessio (Saint Alexius) is recognised as the earliest opera on an historical, rather than mythological subject. William Christie made an audio recording of this rarely-seen work some years ago, but this DVD, produced with TV station France 3, shows the opera for the first time in the full glory of a production by baroque theatre expert Benjamin Lazar. Staged in Caen (where the DVD was filmed) and Paris in October 2007, the opera was subsequently presented in concert form in London and New York, and is scheduled for the opera houses of Luxembourg and Nancy in early 2008. William Christie followed authentic Roman precedent by casting the opera entirely with male singers, including a chorus of choirboys and no less than eight countertenors. Two of these are already established as star soloists on Virgin Classics: Philippe Jaroussky in the title role - with, in the words of the New York Times, heartbreaking conviction" - and Max Emmanuel Cencic, who takes the role of Alessios wife in a flamboyant yet wrenching" performance (the New York Times again). The libretto, written by Cardinal Giulio Rospigliosi (the future Pope Clement IX), tells the story of saintly sacrifice: on his wedding night Alessio departs alone for the Holy Land in search of sanctity. Years later he returns unrecognised as a beggar to his family home, where his father, mother and wife still mourn him. A demon tempts Alessio to reveal his true identity and so end his familys grief, but an angel keeps him on the sacred path. The dying Alessio leaves a letter explaining the truth and an angelic chorus bids his family to rejoice rather than mourn, since he has been received into heaven. This strange, solemn and elevated story is leavened with comic scenes in the commedia dellarte vein, adding to the rich musico-dramatic variety of the entire opera.