Friedrich von Flotow – Alessandro Stradella [Double Album]

Alessandro Stradella is a romantic opera in three acts composed by Friedrich von Flotow to a German libretto by “Wilhelm Friedrich” (Friedrich Wilhelm Riese [de]). Set in Venice and the countryside near Rome, it is loosely based on the colourful life of the 17th-century Italian composer and singer Alessandro Stradella. It was first performed in its full version on 30 December 1844 at the Stadttheater in Hamburg.

Alessandro Stradella’s short, hectic life – he was born in 1644 and assassinated in 1682 – provided more than enough material for numerous operas. His own operatic career started with some smaller pieces for Rome, where his talents as a singer and composer, his aristocratic contacts and his incredible charm ensured him a position at the court.

The Wexford Festival Opera Chorus and the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Belarus conducted by Daniele Callegari performing Friedrich von Flotow: Alessandro Stradella.

One basic feature, which determines the difference between fonè and other record companies, is the recording of performances in their natural spaces, that is in the places where they were originally presented. This leads to a constant search for suitable locations, and the choice of churches, theaters, country mansions, drawing rooms and so on. The recordings are carried out with the utmost simplicity, the only way not to do violence to the music: all the equipment is high fidelity; use is made of valve-type paired microphones manufactured in the years 1947 and 1949 (U47, U48 and M49) with an extremely natural and transparent timbre and a bi-microphonic field effect; these microphones have a very important history: they were used to record the Beatles at the Abbey Road Studio and by the RCA for the “Living Stereo” recordings.

Costa, Antonov, Morozova, Zahradnicek, Kelly
Wexford Festival Opera Chorus
National Philarmonic Orchestra of Belarus
Daniele Callegari, Conductor