Clemencic Consort & Rene Clemencic - Albinoni: l Nascimento dell’Aurora (2008)

Although known almost exclusively for his instrumental concertos and the spurious Adagio attributed to him, Tomaso Albinoni was mainly a man of the theater; he composed 81 operas and, late in life, made his living as a singing coach. However, the best efforts of posterity to catch up with Albinoni's operatic creations are significantly stymied by the fact that only three of his stage works are fully extant, the rest preserved only in occasional and fugitive fragments in the form of single arias and other bits and pieces. Il Nascimento dell'Aurora is a serenata -- or more specifically, a "festa pastorale" -- a kind of courtly entertainment not really meant to be specifically dramatic or compelling and, in this case, dealing with the birth of Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora. It has been recorded once before in 1983 in a version with Claudio Scimone, I Solisti Veneti, and June Anderson leading a stellar cast for Erato; this Oehms Classics recording features René Clemencic leading the Clemenic Consort with a group of singers who are earnest but not particularly well known.

Il Nascimento dell'Aurora has an excellent sinfonia, and on this recording both this and the rest of the work are played very well from a purely instrumental standpoint. The singing is more of a mixed bag, with countertenor Terry Wey (as Apollo) at the stronger end and tenor Gernot Heinrich (as Peneo) at the weakest; Heinrich has a rather fast and loose way with ornaments and tends to drag the ensemble down in florid passagework, such as in his aria "Se incontrate tempeste." Overall, though, Clemencic's Il Nascimento dell'Aurora is not bad, and it is not a terribly expensive set, either, and comes with the complete libretto in three languages.

Opinions as to when and where this work made its bow, and for whom, differ almost to the scholar. The work's premiere was dated to August 15, 1708, by scholar Herbert Seifert in 1990; however, Clemencic states here that "the commission for this serenata was presumably given to Albinoni between 1711 and 1717 [...] to celebrate the birthday of Elisabeth Christine von Brunswick-Wolffenbüttel." The Seifert date, however, is convincing as Elisabeth Christine had just arrived in Barcelona with the prospect of marrying Archduke Charles; internal references in the work itself attest to this fact, as well. The debate about its purpose may rage on, but in the meantime this Oehms Classics recording of Albinoni's Il Nascimento dell'Aurora is a serviceable one that will get the work into one's ears, though the earlier Erato recording remains the preferred interpretation. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis