Credits:

Porpora (1686-1768)

Description:

This is the forefront of the world of old music opera! Porpora’s intense operatic writing style, which challenged Handel’s, and the overwhelming performance of all of it in sound, is now available on CD from PARNASSUS ARTS, of which the famous countertenor Zencic is the artistic director. Around 1730, the “Aristocratic Opera” was founded in England as a rival group to the immensely popular Handel. was established in England around 1730 to compete with Handel, who was enormously popular. Porpora composed five operas in London as a composer for this organization, the last of which was “Polyphemo. While Handel’s operas were popular because of his skillful use of ballet and chorus, the aristocratic operas were based on the skill of the singers. Farinelli, a legendary castrato who studied under Porpora, also a voice teacher, was very active in this opera, and the golden age of Baroque opera w