Francesco Conti’s work was unknown to me before the release of this recording. Born in Florence around the same time as Bach and Handel, he made his name in the Hapsburg court at Vienna as a virtuoso theorbo player. In 1714 he succeeded Fux as court composer (while still retaining the post of principal theorbist – a canny move, as the combined salaries exceeded that of the Kapellmeister), and almost every year for the next decade or so he composed the opera for the carnival season, considered to be the major event of the year. His sacred drama David was first performed in the Royal Chapel in Vienna in 1724. The story focuses on the Israelite king Saul’s jealousy of David after the latter’s slaying of Goliath and the Philistiines, and the efforts of David’s wife Michal and her brother Jonathan to protect him from Saul’s murderous rages. While this may not seem the most promising material for a work that amply fills two discs, in actual fact the music is inventive and highly theatrical. Arias range from the serenely beautiful to the astonishingly virtuosic. More than once I was reminded of Vivaldi’s opera Orlando Furioso, heard at the start of this year’s Edinburgh Festival; the two works share a similar audacity of writing requiring bravura performances from the singers. Sonia Prina, the acclaimed Orlando here a few weeks ago, excels in her more sober role here as Saul’s general Abner – the grave beauty of her tone in her contemplative Act 2 aria makes for rewarding listening, enhanced by the superb solo violin playing. Another familiar name on the cast list is Furio Zanasi, who sang the title role in the Festival’s production of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (and also in Concerto Italiano’s splendid new recording of that work). As Saul he copes admirably with the role’s extended vocal range (a “tenore baritonale” is required) and with the exceptionally florid middle section of his Act 1 aria. The roles of Jonathan and Michal are assigned to sopranos, the latter role sung with nobility by Simone Kermes. I was particularly struck by the warm flute-like quality of her voice, with no hint of shrillness in the astonishing high notes she produces for the more decorated repeats in her da capo arias. I was even more impressed by contralto Marijana Mijanovic as David; not only is she an extremely sensitive musician, but she has a male quality to her voice entirely appropriate for a role originally written for the great castrato Orsini. Despite the virtuosic nature of some of the music, the singers and players of Il Complesso Barocco imbue the whole work with a depth and serenity that is most moving. Conti’s inventive writing for continuo betrays his background, with the interludes for solo theorbo (rather than a harp) in David’s Act 2 psalm excellently negotiated by Jakob Lindberg. So, drama, virtuosity, inventiveness and expressiveness combine to produce one of the most satisfying recordings of recent months.

Reviewed by Anne McAlister