Presto Editor's Choice
June 2020

Franco Fagioli (countertenor), Il Pomo d'Oro, Zefira Valova

Vinci, Leonardo: Sembro quell'usignuolo (from Il trionfo di Camilla)
Vinci, Leonardo: Più non so finger sdegni (from Il trionfo di Camilla)
Vinci, Leonardo: Ove corri? (from L‘Ernelinda)
Vinci, Leonardo: Sorge talora fosca l'aurora (from L'Ernelinda)
Vinci, Leonardo: Gelido in ogni vena (from Siroe, re di Persia)
Vinci, Leonardo: Quell'usignolo che innamorato (from Gismondo, re di Polonia)
Vinci, Leonardo: Barbara, mi schernisci (from La Rosmira fedele)
Vinci, Leonardo: Nave altera (from Gismondo, re di Polonia)
Vinci, Leonardo: Nube di denso orrore (from L'Ernelinda)
Vinci, Leonardo: Sull'ali del suo amor (from L'Ernelinda)
Vinci, Leonardo: Vil trofeo d'un'alma imbelle (from Alessandro nelle Indie)
Vinci, Leonardo: Scherzo dell'onda instabile (from Il Medo)
Vinci, Leonardo: Oh da me troppo offesa, troppo amabil Medea (from Il Medo)
Vinci, Leonardo: Sento due fiamme in petto (from Il Medo)

Following up his “fantastic” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) Handel recital, Franco Fagioli lavishes his “extraordinary agility and richly upholstered voice” (Gramophone) on Leonardo Vinci, the Neapolitan composer who influenced Handel and many later masters of Italian opera. He is again partnered by Il Pomo d’Oro led by Zefira Valova, the superb period- instrument ensemble who offered “stunning playing – stylish and superbly tuned” (ClassicsToday) on Fagioli’s previous album.

"What a treat it is to have an entire album dedicated to this inventive, prolific Neapolitan. The album’s unusually light on bravura for a Fagioli project, showcasing instead Vinci’s gift for long-lined melody and pastoral word-painting, with Medo’s Sento due fiamme a particular highlight, and some ravishing obbligatos from Il Pomo d’Oro’s winds." - Presto Classical, June 2020.