Giacomelli's Merope - opera for Farinelli and Caffarelli

Andrea Marcon has conducted many a Vivaldi opera at the Matinee. Now he and his La Cetra return with Merope, the opera that his slightly younger contemporary Giacomelli wrote for the greatest cast members of his time.

Extremely virtuoso Italian late Baroque
In 1732, the Neapolitan composer Riccardo Broschi wrote the opera Merope, primarily intended as a showpiece for his brother, the soprano-castello singer Carlo Broschi, who was and is better known under the name Farinelli. Less than two years later, the North Italian composer Geminiano Giacomelli added to this. He also wrote a vocal virtuoso Merope, with two famous castrato singers in the leading roles: Farinelli and the mezzo-soprano Gaetano Majorano, known mainly as Caffarelli. Both would also feature in the London opera scene around Handel and Porpora in that period.

The Nightingale' from Meropeput the king in a good mood
Giacomelli, composer of sacred music, oratorios and operas, was highly appreciated by Benedetto Marcello, which probably won him the commission to write Merope for the famous Teatro San Giovanni Gristostomo in Venice. When Farinelli was working at the Spanish court in his final days, he seems to have sung the aria 'Quell'usignolo...' (The Nightingale) from Merope over and over again to cheer up the depressed king.