Supreme Skill
Leonardo Vinci's 'La Partenope' -
heard by ROBERT ANDERSON'... Vinci at his best.'
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Naples, where Vinci spent most of his working life, was said to have been founded when the body of Parthenope was washed up on its shore. She was one of the Sirens, who were noted for their singing (though Orpheus was even better) but who hurled themselves into the sea when the ship of Odysseus passed them without paying much attention to their song. So much for Naples. But the opera, written for Venice in 1725 at Carnival time, deals also with Sonia Prima as a Thessalian Princess Parthenope who migrated to Naples and is loved by many local grandees, including the prince of Capua, ravisher of her territory before requesting marriage...
Copyright © 11 September 2012
Robert Anderson, London UK
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