Porpora Or sì m'avveggio, oh Amore - Fulmini e Saette

NICOLA PORPORA
Neapolitan string school. The young and promising
Porpora must have quickly entered this virtuoso circle,
assimilating the influences of the surroundings in which
he found himself. Although the instrumental sections of
this cantata are written in the style of the concerto grosso
(with systematic alternation between soli and tutti), and
while some passages in the vocal lines display a Scarlattian
flavour, and the character of the recitatives and certain
harmonic options immediately call to mind the Roman
milieu, there are many elements which (even to a modern
ear) evince considerable originality and powerful innovations.
An example is found in the conclusion of the last
movement of the opening Sinfonia. Such innovations
would not have stood out so strongly in the artistic climate
of Naples, where the far-reaching transformations of
4
musical language that Porpora himself, Leo, Vinci and
their contemporaries were shortly to export to the world
were already being prepared and tried out.
Or che d’orrido Verno is among Porpora’s finest
chamber cantatas. It cannot be securely dated, but may
have been written when the composer was active in Naples
or Venice (or perhaps even Dresden), between 1725 and
1730, or else in the late 1740s. The work features a twosection
sinfonia (with no tempo marking) and assigns
exceptionally brilliant roles to both the singer and the
concertante flute. However, the demands on virtuoso
technique do not overshadow the prominent, delicately
handled echoes between voice, solo instrument and string
accompaniment that characterize the writing (a typical
trait of the composer, here illustrated in exemplary fashion
in the sensual, poignant ‘Lungi dal ben che s’ama’).
Indeed, refinement, subtle interplay between the parts,
and highly intensive (at times obsessive) exploitation of
the thematic material were among the distinctive features
of Porpora’s output in general. These elements, combined
with extremely rich melodic invention, a mastery of
compositional technique, and a keen sense of theatre and
dramatic pacing, marked him out for a successful career.
Today, after centuries of neglect, all these characteristics
surge from the pages of his scores with explosive force,
showing how groundless are the widespread stereotypes
which portray Porpora exclusively as a skilful purveyor of
bravura arias for the use of his pupils. In the aesthetics
of so profound and refined a musician, virtuosity was a
means to an end: his requirement of an extremely high
level of technique from performers was an instrument to
enable him to obtain a seductive, spellbinding naturalness
of style, necessary in its turn to create for the intellect and
the senses a pleasure that would ‘move the passions’.
STEFANO ARESI © 2008
Translated from Italian by CHARLES JOHNSTON