Alessandro Stradella (1639-1682)
La Susanna

Oratorio per Musica
consecrato all’Altezza Serenissima di Francesco Secondo Duca di Modona, Reggio, &c.
Genova, primavera 1681
Testo di Giovanni Battista Giardini

A few years after the assassination of Stradella, Pierre Bourdelot and Pierre Bonnet-Bourdelot included a story of the episode in their Histoire de la Musique in 1715, and consequently the ‘legend of Stradella’ was born. According to the legend, Stredella had disappeared with the lover of a Venetian noble, who in response hired a band of assassins to persue the lovers from city to city. In the booklet of this CD are contained the latest results of Carolyn Gianturco's investigation into the life and works of Stradella, including some completely new information.

La Susanna, an erotic oratorio, was written by Stradella in 1681 on commission from Francesco II, Duke of Modena, who was very fond of the genre. A fine summary of the oratorio’s noteworthy qualities was put forth in a letter by a gentleman who had been present at rehearsals of its first performance. He wrote that he was ‘estatic about the sinfonias, about the variety of the arias, about the exquisiteness of the recitative and about the diversity and unexpectedness of the subjects and about the rarity of the basso continuo’.

This double-CD marks the beginning of an exclusive collaboration between the violinist Enrico Gatti and Glossa. For many years Gatti had worked with the label Arcana, where he had made memorable recordings. We at Glossa want to give him our most heartfelt welcome.