Jonas

The oratorios of Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674) are pioneering works in the early history of a genre that combines sacred narratives, theatrical expression, and musical virtuosity into a new, dramatic form. Among the stories, mainly from the Old Testament, to which Carissimi refers in his oratorios, the vivid narrative of Jonah stands out in particular. During his divine mission at sea, the Biblical hero becomes entangled in a storm and is swallowed by a whale. Carissimi casts this material into a swift plot with emotionally powerful solo recitatives alternated with a complex series of choral passages - including an impressive double chorus that depicts the storm. Who could interpret Carissimi's expressive music better than Giovanni Antonini, one of the most prominent conductors in the field of historical instruments? The ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, which is dedicated to historically informed performance practices and whose instrumentation has been specially adapted to the Bavarian Radio Choir and the unique tonal qualities of the oratorio, will also participate. Artistic director Giovanni Antonini has been collaborating with the Bavarian Radio Choir for many years and has given many acclaimed concerts with it featuring works from the early Baroque to the First Viennese School - and he also finds the perfect sound for Carissimi. With choral music by Claudio Monteverdi and Orlando di Lasso, this album also traces the development of dramatic vocal music in the transition from the late Renaissance motet to the more emotionally expressive interpretations of the early Baroque. The famous Lamento d'Arianna is the only surviving piece from Claudio Monteverdi's (1567-1643) lost opera "Ariadne," which he reworked into an equally expressive madrigal in 1610. Fragments from the two legendary and mysterious cycles Prophetiae Sibyllarum and Lagrime di San Pietro by Wittelsbach court composer Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) close the album and allow us to experience masterworks of the motet style, which the Bavarian Radio Choir regularly dedicates itself to in historically informed performances.