Bringing up Babylon Bringing up Babylon

“Trove Valentine’s Day” further stokes Semiramis-fever with another of the celebrated works about the infamous queen: La Semiramide riconosciuta, a superb 1729 opera by Nicola Porpora.

‘Ja, ja’ land ‘Ja, ja’ land

We leave behind the Vienna of the 1740s, the time of breeches, fans and white wigs.

Wouldn’t it be funny if that was Vivaldi? Wouldn’t it be funny if that was Vivaldi?

“I’ve lived with mendacity!—Why can’t you live with it? Hell, you got to live with it, there’s nothing else to live with except mendacity, is there?”

Divas merrily on high Divas merrily on high

Cecilia Bartoli and Joyce DiDonato are not the only ladies who have recorded recitals this year featuring music from the 17th and 18th centuries.