This recording is a true event: you may not know Leonardo Vinci (1690-1730), born in Naples, who during his short life was one of the most famous opera composers of his time, and whose Artaserse was his masterpiece. The Frenchman Charles de Brosse wrote: “Vinci is the Italian Lully: true, simple, natural, expressive, writing wonderfully well for the voice, he is the most famous Italian opera composer of his time.” The opera, which tells the story of the Persian Emperor Artaxerxes, was first performed in 1730 at the Théâtre des Dames in Rome. At that time, a papal decree had banned women from the theater stages, so the cast was entirely male, with castrati singing the female roles. This recording successfully achieves the same goal with 5 countertenors from around the world: the French star Philippe Jaroussky, his Croatian partner Max Emanuel Cencic, the Argentine Franco Fagioli (who will be a stunning discovery for many), the Romanian Valer Barna-Sabadus, and the Ukrainian Yuriy Mynenko. “It is clear that one delights in the way Diego Fasolis brings out the exceptional inventiveness of the arias from Artaserse with wonderful lyricism and beautiful energy.” Forum Opéra
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