As part of the Lazio Region Sacred Music Festival, an initiative of the Lazio Region, we highlight this concert at the Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, featuring the oratorio by Niccolò Jommelli (1714–1774), Joseph Glorified in Egypt. Although the title refers to Egypt, the cantata-oratorio was commissioned by the Scolopi Order to celebrate the beatification of Saint Joseph Calasanzio, the Order's founding father - which took place on August 18, 1748 - and not the biblical figure of Joseph in Egypt.
Every year, the Scolopi Order organized a "solemn Academy" on the occasion of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, featuring the performance of a cantata commissioned from illustrious composers of the time. This 1749 cantata, the first composed by Jommelli for the Scolopi, is particularly important because it celebrates the Order's founding father, Giuseppe Calasanzio.
The cantata-oratorio represents one of the most important compositions of the so-called "Roman production" of Niccolò Jommelli, one of the greatest representatives of the Neapolitan school of opera seria. During this period, the Aversa-born composer spent many days in the Eternal City, coming into contact with a rich and vibrant cultural world, which undoubtedly influenced his compositions of those years, in which many scholars have identified a process of musical and dramatic renewal. Indeed, the musician not only composed for Roman opera houses, but was also contacted by important patrons, including the Order of the Scolopi, for whom he wrote four cantatas from 1749 to 1752.
With Marta Pacifici, mezzo-soprano; Roberto Manuel Zangari, tenor; Reate Festival Orchestra, Luca Incerti, conductor. Organized by the Flavio Vespasiano Foundation.
Photo: turismoroma site
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