Porpora's Polifemo in concert, live from Moscow

Wow!  No lack of passion in this performance!

Many thanks, Dinah, for the link.

So, I have just finished watching this one, and let me tell you guys: IT. WAS. MAGNIFICENT !

A very passionate delivery, indeed, @Jen.

I was thrilled to see Julia Lezhneva listed among the cast, she's a brilliant young soprano, especially when singing Baroque repertoire (I like her very much, even though I'm not particularly enamored with sopranos as you might know).

And I'm thrilled to have found a new favourite countertenor :Yuriy Meninko (Aci in this performance). Simply superb 👌👏!

Posted by: @jen

Many thanks, Dinah, for the link.

My pleasure, darling. 🤗

Posted by: @dinah

IT. WAS. MAGNIFICENT !

Yes it was! Agreed: Yuriy Meninko was superb, and Julia Lezhneva’s voice control is almost unbelievable… and I loved Sreten Manojlović’s dark, moody portrayal of Polyphemus.  

Sadly, I had to leave the live stream before the end… I’m really hoping it will be available to catch up on YouTube tomorrow!

Posted by: @jen

and I loved Sreten Manojlović’s dark, moody portrayal of Polyphemus.  

Yes, me too, as much as I hate Polifemo (for being so mean to poor Aci!), I couldn't help but fall in love with Sreten's dark charm. 😉🤣

Posted by: @jen

I’m really hoping it will be available to catch up on YouTube tomorrow!

Yep! The good people of the Moscow Philharmonic Society usually leave a copy of their live streams up for some time on the YouTube channel. I think you should be able to do that just fine.

I'm settling down to watch it on YouTube. I don't see any English subtitles but Wikipedia has what looks like a very helpful article to help me understand the action.

Meanwhile, I've been reminded of this sculptural group (Blinding of Polyphemus) from Emperor Tiberius's palace at Sperlonga in Lazio.

I am also being reminded of Owen Brannigan singing "Ruddier than the cherry". I must look up a recording after I've finished watching this.

(It's not my favourite kind of singing, but the soprano is quite something! ... although the orchestra members look singularly unimpressed!)

I'm confused as to who is singing what. This page Polifemo, Porpora | Moscow Philharmonic | Operabase has Lezhneva singing Nerea, but I think that was a different performance a few weeks ago. Is she Galatea on this video?

I couldn’t help but imagine Sreten Manojlović singing O ruddier than the cherry!

Posted by: @hugh

Is she Galatea on this video?

Yes, challenged yestereve by the Russian subtitles, I wasn’t certain about this either.  A little research to do before I listen through to the end 🤔

Lezhneva is Galatea, Sonja is Calipso, Dilyara is Nerea. For the gentlemen, Yuriy is Aci, Max is Ulysses, Sreten is the titular evil one 😜.

There was a bit of confusion in the middle, I think Max was supposed to sing an aria, went on stage, then left abruptly, then Julia sang an aria (the consensus amongst the good people in the live chat was that this performance is a mixture of the two versions of the opera, and that Max was perhaps confused 🤔). Also I noticed that the order of one of Aci's and Polifemo's arias were perhaps switched!

Here's a libretto in Italian, perhaps it would help (you could utilize Google translate, although it is often way off!):

http://www.librettidopera.it/polifemo1735/polifemo1735.html

Posted by: @hugh

(It's not my favourite kind of singing, but the soprano is quite something! ... although the orchestra members look singularly unimpressed!)

Now, I'm confused 😕 Which performance is that?

So, between 9th November and 26th December Lezhneva and Dilyara swapped roles.

I also noticed that Porpora and Pisendel, who were both mentioned here within an hour or two yesterday, were born within a year or so in the mid 1680s. It's remarkable how many prominent composers were born within (or almost within) that decade.