Gasparini: Il Bajazet

Carlo Ipata is tirelessly searching for worthwhile works that have been unjustly forgotten. Here he introduces us to ‘Il Bajazet’ by Francesco Gasparini (1661-1727), who suffered the same fate as many other Venetian composers who worked at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century: Their music was first completely displaced by the works of Vivaldi and then by those of the Neapolitan school around Leonardo Vinci and Nicola Porpora.

Despite his work in Venice, his Dramma in musica, first performed in 1719 (for which Gasparini revised his ‘Il Tamerlano’, first performed in Venice in 1711), shows clear influences of the Roman Arcadian school. The recording was made in connection with performances of the work at last year’s opera festival in Barga, Tuscany. Although premiered off the great stages in Reggio Emilia, Gasparini was able to draw on an illustrious cast in 1719: stars such as Francesco Borosini, Antonio Bernacchi, Marianna Bulgarelli and Faustina Bordoni took part in the premiere.

The stars of today’s production are Leonardo De Lisi (Bajazet), Filippo Mineccia (Tamerlano), Giuseppina Bridelli (Asteria) and Ewa Gubanska (Irene). Handel also plays a role here: the libretto of his Tamerlano, first performed in London in 1724, is based on those of the two Gasparini operas, and the tenor Francesco Borosini also took on a leading role here.

In her booklet text, musicologist Antonella D’Ovidio delves into the history of Gasparini’s ‘Bajazet’ and analyses the style of this masterful, but unfortunately still not sufficiently appreciated opera composer.