Luogo e data di registrazione		Tituskirche, Basel (Svizzera) - 14-19 giugno 1976
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer / Engineer		Gerd Berg / Johann-Nikolaus Matthes
	Prima Edizione LP		EMI Electrola "Reflexe" - 1C 163-30 130/31 Q - (2 lp) - durata 39' 05" / 46' 57" - (p) 1976 - Analogico (Quadraphonic)
	Prima Edizione CD		EMI "Classics" - CMS 7 63421 2 - (2 cd) - durata 58' 41" / 63' 07" - (c) 1990 - ADD
	Edizione CD		EMI "Classics" - 8 26538 2 - (2 cd) - durata 59' 12" / 26' 50" - (c) 2000 - ADD
	Note		La ripubblicazione in CD del 1990 contiene anche il "Dives Malus (Historia Divitis)" di Giacomo Carissimi.

VIRTUE AND VICE FIGHT OVER MANKIND The Rappresentazione di Anime e di Corpo of Emilio de’ Cavalieri may be appraised as an attempt to place the new artistic form of opera, or better, of dramma per musica (which was developed by scholars as a reactivation of the ancient theatre praxis, and above all, presented to an educated and courteous public) in the service of the layman’s devotional and religious movement, and in the requl rements for a sacred theatre supported by pupils and students. Emilio de’ Cavalieri (who was born in Rome circa 1550 and died as well there on March 11, 1602) was, as general director of artistic and cultural affairs in the court of Grand Duke Ferdinand I. Medici in Florence, decisively concerned in the development of early Florentine opera with mythological, and especially those with pastoral contents. (Il Satiro, La Disperazione di Fileno, Il Giuoco della Cieca 1595). After his return to Rome, the Rappresentazione was twice performed in February of 1600 in the Oratorio S. Maria della Vallicella. In 1575 Fra Filippo Neri founded his Congregazione dell’Oratorio in the S. Maria della Vallicella, which became most important for the development of oratorio, and in leading the layman’s devotional movement in the spirit of the Council of Trent. Cavalieri was himself active in the Oratorio del Crocifisso in S. Marcello (1578-1584) before his departure to Florence. The librettist, Agostino Manni, had been a member of Filippo Neri’s congregation since 1577. One has to look for the intentions of Rappresentazione in the intellectual sphere of the oratorio movement. Manni had made public in 1577 and 1583 a Dialogo di anima e di corpo, whose main portion he used for the Rappresentazione. The work opens with a prologue in the style of the authoritative renaissance poetics of Julius Caesar Scaliger (Poetices libri septem 1561). The two allegorical figures, prudence and reason, provide for the didactic understanding of the play. They are - this is a typical feature of school theatre, and instructive for the performance praxis and addressed circle of listeners - two young people, who are still inexperienced in life, but who observe the rules of wisdom concerning the instability of the world, and of life. In “new, strange pictures", they want to represent before all viewers the correctness of their deliberation, since the knowledge and the recognition of these circumstances are of decisive importance for the salvation of mankind. The two allegorical figures, body (Corpo) and soul (Anima), have to decide themselves either for heaven or earth. Desire, her companions, the world and wordly life try to seduce them. Angelo custode, the guardian-angel, strengthens them in battle and reveals the true nature of the seducers: the world is unsightly and ugly under its glorius veil, the wordly life is the mask of death. Intellect (Intelletto) and council (Consiglio) illustrate the consequence of the correct or false decision of mankind in a dialogue with the damned souls in hell, and the blissful ones in heaven, whereby heaven and hell alternately open. The theatrical effect is not an end in itself, but serves the argumentation. A festa with dancing and singing closes the representation. The Rappresentazione is in the tradition of musical dialogue and drama. The Concertatio Wrtutis cum Voluptate, the argument between virtue and vice over mankind (whose original form goes back to Prodicos and his - given up for lost- fable about Hercules at the cross-roads) had been published in the late Middle Ages and was included in morality play scripts. Through being printed, it gained a large distribution and became one of the most popular subject matters. Among others wrote Hans Sachs a Kampff-gesprech... mit fraw Tugendt und fraw Untugendt. (Verbal battle... with Frau Virtue and Frau Vice.) Motives: The necessity to decide, the temptation of man, aggressiveness and false appearances of wickedness have become popular commodities. To be retained are the motivational structures of religious devotional literature, and the ideas of asceticism, which were propogated by orders of monks in preaching to the people. Assimilated and already formed in the sense of the baroque idea of Vanitas are parts of Contemptus Mundi and the Ars-Moriendi-literature, the theory of contempt and futility of the world, and the art to die correctly, i. e. in the Christian way. Angelo Custode’s argument reminds one slightly of Miles Christianus’ motive, the Christian knight, who gains himself the way to heaven by fighting against the devil and wickedness. (His motive was an especially propagated motive in this age of struggle for belief.) Characteristic of the mixed form of Rappresentazione is the humanitarian tendency to rationalistically explain the late Middle Ages’ popular, religious, and moralistic circumstances through reason and realization, in order to bring about the correct decision. The ancient and mythological pair, Amour and Psyche of the high baroque theatre, have not yet replaced the personification of Anima and Corpo of the late Middle Ages morality plays. According to our opinion, it is not correct to regard Rappresentazione as a retrog ression or an anachronism in the history of opera. It is really much more a thoroughly acceptable first try of a "morality opera", which has as a theme a wellknown motive in order to be effective and understandable. Undisputed is the importance of Rappresentazione for the further development of religious-moralistic allegory operas in Rome, which had its zenith in the work of Giulio Rospigliosi (Sant’ Alessio 1632, La vita humana ovvero, Il trionfo della pietà, 1656), who later became Pope Clemens IX, and his opera theatre in Palazzo Barberini Oswald Georg Bauer Translation by Gary Hansen-Holt CONCERNING THE INSTRUMENTATION OF OUR RECORDING As it was the custom even so late as about 1600, it is up to the performers to attend to the instrumentation ofthe score of this work. There are only some few works from this time giving information on the instruments to be used (for example the Pellegrina Interludes, 1589, Monteverdi’s opera Orfeo, 1609). For further details we must consult the prefaces to the works or theoretical treatises (such as V. Galilei, Dialogo, 1585, H. Bottrigari, Il Desiderio, 1594, M. Praetorius Syntagma musicum, 1619). The preface to Rappresentazione contains only some few remarks concerning the instruments. All this indicates the wide range of possibilities presenting themselves between a small chamber music ensemble on one hand and a large fullsounding orchestra on the other. So sometimes they tried to impress the audience by “making a noise", some other time they had to do with fewer instrumentalists for the sake of economy (per non assoldare gente estrenea). At any rate, they had made it a rule to use as many different instruments as possible with a view to expressiveness. Thanks to the new genre of dramatic music which had come into existence, they were sensible to the variety of tone-colours on the musical palette. As to our recording, there are generally two instrumental choirs to perform the tutti: the wind and the strings. Except for the primary colours (recorders with dolcian for the bass/viola da gamba quintet) there are percussion instruments, a cornetto, a trombone and a violoncello. As to the instrumenti perfetti (chord instruments) we use a theorbo, a chitarrone, a chitarra battente, a harpsichord, an organ and a regal. In the Rappresentazione three spheres are opposed to each other: mankind, the pleasures of wordly life and heaven. The figures of these three domains are accompanied by different continuo groups. Anima, for example, is accompanied by a theorbo, a chitarrone and a contrabass violone, Corpo by a harpsichord and a viola da gamba. The scene of the damned souls is characterized by a regal, a trombone and a plucked contrabass violone. Piacere and his two companions are accompanied by a chitarra battente, a chitarrone (both instruments and a tambourine are recommended in the preface to the scene), a dolcian and a plucked contrabass violone. The sharply accentuating group of the theorbo, chitarrone, harpsichord, organ and contrabass violone represents the inexorable tick-tock of a clock which Tempo refers to as a symbol of life. The wind and strings accompaniment colla parte is in accordance with the atmosphere of the scenes, which are sung by a vocal ensemble with a differing number of performers. After all we have followed the “instructions given by Mr. Emilio de’ Cavalieri... according to which this musical genre which was revived by him evokes emotions such as compassion, happiness, tears, laughter and other (emotion)s...". Hans-Martin Linde Translation by Gudrun Meier CONCERNING OUR RECORDING A piece like Emilio de’ Cavalieri`s Rappresentazione di anima e di Corpo - with its diversity of various elements (scenarios, dance, moralistic debates, allegory, well-known symbolism, madrigal style, and recitative style) - can be described by one from today’s viewpoint as a Gesamtkunstwerk. This is certainly also the reason for the unexpected and numerous revivals recently of this work. (This happened, by the way, not first in Salzburg, as one often reads, but already in 1957 in the Jesuitenkirche in Bonn!) The odd actuality of the work for today’s organizers is but at the same time a source of regrettable misunderstanding. Even though the old instrumentation is referred to (out of an understandable search for an up-to-date attraction), so is one then easily inclined towards monstrous exaggerations. One feels this, especially to us today, in the extraordinary plentiful palette of the accessible early baroque instrumentation. Beyond this, and which is even worse, prevails opera pathos and the effectiveness of large choruses. This is, in our opinion, however a little beyond the distinguished intentions of the work's creator. We have tried to find a solution through a few vocal specialists, through small differentiated and stylistically flexible groups of singers, and through a colourful, but however sparse instrumentation, which we hereby present for discussion. The formation of this recording has its own little stories. Preparations for a staged performance were under way at the same time the work was being recorded. That brought in return the practical performance experience, with whose significance no one of the many participants had calculated. The experience of those hot weeks in June will therefore not be quickly forgotten by those who were there. l would like to thank all the artistic, technical, and organizational participants for their tolerance, devotion, and unselfish ness. Gerd Berg Translation by Gary Hansen-Holt
EMI Electrola "Reflexe"