Cara lontano ancora

Philippe Jaroussky, countertenor

Recorded on 17.04. 2004 in Deauville, live.
La Philharmonie de Chambre , cond. by Jérémie Rhorer.

W.- A. Mozart (1756- 1791)
Aria of Ascanio "Cara, lontano ancora" ( Atto I ) from "Ascanio in Alba" (K.11) , an pastoral opera .

" Festa teatrale in due atti. Compositore della Musica- Il Sig. Cavaliere Amedeo Wolfgango Mozart, Maestro della Musica di Camera di S.A. Reverendissimo il Principe di Salzburgo " on an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Parini (1729- 1799).
First performed at the Teatro Regio Ducal in Milano, on 17 October 1771. The first caste were:

Venus - Geltrude Falcini ( soprano)
Ascanio, her son - Giovanni Manzuoli (alto )
Silvia, a nymph - A. Maria Girelli ( soprano)
Aceste, a priest of Venus - Giuseppe Tibaldi ( tenor)
Fauno, a shepherd - Adamo Solzi ( soprano) Shepherds & Shepherdesses (chorus) .

During his sojourn in London (1764-1765), Giovanni Manzuoli ( 1720 -1782) was Il Primo Uomo for J.-Chr. Bach , his first Adriano in "Adriano in Siria" (16.01.1765), and became friends with the Mozart family . While later in Milano ( 1768-1771) , he was the Chamber Singer to the Duke of Toscana. His final appearance was in Milano in 1771 even for W.-A. Mozart´s opera "Ascanio in Alba".
Charles Burney described Sig. Manzuoli so: "Manzuoli's voice was the most powerful and voluminous soprano that had ever been heard on our stage since the time of Farinelli; and his manner of singing was grand and full of dignity. The applause he received was a universal thunder of acclimation."
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I think, here we could hear, how diligent pupil of J.-Ch. Bach was Wolfgangerl ! :-)