#fraarte

[unulf0]

thinking about the ending chorus in radamisto today. the way the music becomes more layered in the first part as each section of the orchestra ( including the singers ) joins in.

it very much has this grandiose air that makes me think of handel’s later works- particularly the all-too-well-known chorus from messiah. and THEN that grandeur is juxtaposed with the intimacy of the duet parts ( also tangent- the fact that 2/3 of the duets are between the married couples and the third one is between tigrane and fraarte… hm… and all those scenes before of tigrane and fraarte together… )

in conclusion: OUHHGH.

[unulf0]

my confusion towards 2005 il complesso barocco radamisto only grows.

they seem to generally be abiding by the original production, but they also use december revival material in some parts? in “dopo l’orride procelle,” for example ( though several arias also have this issue ), the text in the libretto i was reading didn’t match up with what was being sung. but now i’m looking at the libretto of the december revival and sure enough, the lyrics in that one were the lyrics used in the recording.

“wait, does this explain why ‘deh! fuggi un traditore’ was attributed to fraarte? because it does seem that fraarte is the one who sings that aria in the december revival version.” yes, but he doesn’t just appear out of nowhere in that one, he “speaks” in the recitative segment before the aria as well. and the recitative used in the recording is from the original production, where it’s just tigrane and polissena there. it wouldn’t make sense for fraarte to randomly come in, surely. it makes even less sense for him to appear ONLY for the aria.

[unulf0]

got to “troppo sofferse.” almirena, what are you doing here?

relatedly- fraarte’s “vaga bella” from just a short while earlier feels like something amanzio would sing. he’s just duped someone and now he’s absolutely delighted. and the way it’s delivered gives more of an impression of mischief rather than outright villainy ( though you still know that the guy is Not Good ).

[unulf0]

is NOBODY going to talk about how fraarte offhandedly mentions in act 1 scene 10 that he used to have a thing for zenobia? hello?

or maybe this will be explained later. again, i’m practically going into this blind.

also. act 1 scene 8. fraarte and tigrane. in a scene. together. i think i might die.