© Zani-Casadio
Nicola Antonio Porpora
Il trionfo della Divina Giustizia
ne’ tormenti e morte di Gesù Cristo
Oratorio in two parts (Naples 1716)
conductor Nicola Valentini
Maria, sempre Vergine Candida Guida
Giustizia Divina Erica Alberini
Giovanni, Apostolo Angelo Testori
Maddalena Chiara Nicastro
Ensemble Dolce Concento
Lucrezia Nappini, Stefano Gullo violins
Alice Bisanti viola
Paolo Ballanti cello
Sebastiano Barbieri double bass
Filippo Pantieri harpsichord
Simone Amelli trumpet
In just a few years, he would become one of the most prominent opera composers of the 18th century. He would rival Händel in London, mentor the great castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli, and influence Haydn in Vienna. Sadly, he would eventually die in poverty in his hometown of Naples. And it was for Naples that the very young Porpora composed this oratorio dedicated to the Passion of Christ, in which he already showed the mastery of contrapuntal technique and the sensitivity to vocal virtuosity of his approaching maturity. Mary, John, and Magdalene witness Christ’s crucifixion together with Divine Justice. But the latter’s unwavering confidence is not enough to ease the Virgin’s suffering. She barely resists falling into despair, revealing the mixture of humanity and theatricality that one expects from any great mourner.
