Pergolesi: La Salustia [Blu-ray]

Wonderful singing the main attraction in Pergolesi's first opera
There are one or two aspects of Pergolesi's La Salustia that immediately mark it out as quite different from the previous rare opera works by the composer ([ASIN:B005UOK9HA Adriano in Siria]], Il Prigionier Superbo and Il Flaminio) recently revived and subjected to new critical editions by the Fondazione Pergolesi-Spontini in Jesi. Most obviously, as the composer's first opera, written to a libretto that had been reworked from an earlier work (Alessando Severo), La Salustia (1732) fits more conventionally into the standard opera seria style than any of Pergolesi's later work in the dramma per musica category. It's interesting nonetheless to see how Pergolesi operates even within this more restrictive format, particularly when the singing performances presented here at this production in Jesi surpass the already exceptionally high standards...

Great dvd
I have a previus dvd of this opera but it has no subtitles and I could not find a synopsis of the plot anywhere. My only complaint is the warrior being plaid by a women. There is one countertenor in it. Why not have two?

Opera Seria at it's more stagnant
La Salustia is Pergolesi's first venture into the world of Italian Opera Seria. In this form the libretto is the chief object of admiration, the Art, and the music is incidental. The structure of the dramaturgy is drawn according to formulas laid out in the "Poetics" of Aristotle. Action should take place within 24 hours, involve no more than eight people, the major player (Salustia) should show nobility of character leading to the resolution of intrigues, misunderstandings and hostilities and there should be a happy ending. Because the Opera Seria form was supposed to emulate the structure of ancient Greek drama there were often long recitatives describing action of the plot, the arias which summmarized the actions that have occurred were restricted to 30 and the Greek chorus so important in those dramas were also written for the opera seria. So the real creative piece was the libretto. Metastasio and Zeno were among the most famous of librettists at this time. The only work the...

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