Vinci: Artaserse Music CD

"Among the most impressive period-performance ensembles around today" (Musical America), Haymarket Opera Company presents early-18th-century master Leonardo Vinci's rare operatic gem, Artaserse (1730). A prominent figure of the Neapolitan School of opera, whose work influenced composers like Johann Adolph Hasse and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Vinci's three-act opera seria centers on the Persian prince, Artaserse, who must bring hisfather's murderer to justice amidst betrayal, deceit, and mistaken identity. Celebrated as a classic in it's time with multiple revivals into the 1750s, Artaserse features a libretto by Italian poet and librettist Pietro Metastasio, who was regarded as one of the most important librettists of 18th-century Europe. The opera, comprising 28 arias, one duet, four orchestrally accompanied recitatives, and a final chorus, offers dazzling vocal writing and highlights Vinci's talent for dramatic intrigue. Featuring top international and regional vocalists and skilled period instrumentalists, who "proved themselves fully prepared to engage with the drama through... spectacular flights of virtuosic vocalism" (Opera Magazine), Artaserse received it's American premiere by the Haymarket Opera Company in June 2025 in Jarvis Opera Hall at DePaul University.In 2023, Cedille Records released the Haymarket Opera Company's debut album: the world-premiere recording of Joseph Bologne, the Chevalier de Saint-Georges' only surviving opera, L'Amant Anonyme (The Anonymous Lover). The recording has been praised for "restoring Bologne to his rightful stature... [with] luxury casting, including the 2005 Cardiff Singer of the World laureate Nicole Cabell in the lead role" (Gramophone) and as a "recording that does this marvelous score full justice... a triumph in every respect" (Fanfare).Since it's founding in 2010, Haymarket Opera Company has enriched Chicago and the Midwest's musical scene with critically acclaimed performances of 17th- and 18th-century operas and oratorios, played on period instruments, with historically informed singing and staging. It has presented more than 30 productions: both fully staged operas and concert presentations.