Concerto de' Cavalieri 

Marcello di Lisa, direction 

A. Scarlatti: Erminia, Tancredi,  Polidoro e Pastore

serenata for 4 voices and instruments (Naples, 1723)

Erminia: Gemma Bertagnolli, soprano  

Tancredi: Mary-Ellen Nesi, mezzosoprano  

Polidoro: Magnus Staveland, tenor  

Pastore: Christian Senn, bass

Concerto grosso, Op. 6, No. 4 in D major:

1. Adagio - Allegro, 2. Adagio - Vivace, 3. Allegro, 4. Allegro (Arcangelo Corelli)

Introduzione

Recitativo accompagnato (Erminia): Ove, smarrita e sola

Aria (Erminia): Al dolce nome

Recitativo (Erminia, Pastore)

Aria (Pastore): Mentre quel solco

Recitativo (Erminia, Pastore)

Duetto (Erminia, Pastore): Vado al gregge e meco viene

Recitativo (Polidoro)

Aria (Polidoro): Fin che il fulmine non scoppia

Recitativo (Erminia, Polidoro)

Aria (Erminia): Son raminga pastorella

Recitativo (Erminia, Polidoro)

Aria (Tancredi): Come suol, veloce e ardito

Recitativo (Tancredi, Pastore)

Aria (Pastore): Quando irato il toro mugge

Recitativo (Polidoro, Tancredi)

Aria (Polidoro): Ha ne’ begl’occhi

Recitativo (Polidoro, Tancredi)

Aria (Tancredi): Di fortuna e d’amor tra gl’inganni

Recitativo accompagnato (Erminia): Qui, dove al germogliar

Aria (Erminia): Torbido, irato e nero

Erminia is the last grand serenata for voices and instruments by Alessandro Scarlatti. It was composed in 1723 on the occasion of the wedding of Ferdinando Colonna, Prince of Stigliano, and performed with great pomp at the family’s palace. It was an extraordinary society event at that time, described on the Gazzetta di Napoli as one of the most momentous happenings of that year – the wedding between Maria Luisa Caracciolo de’ Principi di Santobuono and Ferdinando Colonna, Prince of Stigliano. Originally performed with great success, Erminia was then forgotten.

After about three centuries, in October 2011, Erminia came back to life in the very same place where it was first performed, Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano in Naples, thanks to a project of the Fondazione Pietà de’ Turchini of Naples in cooperation with Concerto de’ Cavalieri. At the premiere performance in modern times, under the direction of Marcello Di Lisa, the internationally renowned soprano Maria Grazia Schiavo starred the role of Erminia originally conceived for the voice of Farinelli.

The concert at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival represents a further step of a project aimed to revalue this Scarlatti’s masterpiece, extremely significant both from a musical point of view and from a historical perspective.