L’Abele,  sacred composition in two parts based on a text from P.Metastasio, with the music of Father Diogenio Bigaglia o.s.b., revised and adapted by Father Albino Varotti.
Transcribed and arranged by Raoul Ostorero.

Tenor, Saverio Bambi (Adamo)
Soprano, Riccarda Bassi (Eva)
Tenor, Sano Shighehiro (Abele)
Bass, Massimo Siviero (Caino)

Ensemble Doppio Diesis, Conducted by: Luigi Verdi

Father Diogene Bigaglia,  a Benedictine monk from San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, was Chapelmaster of the Dome in Faenza during the first half of the 1700s. He wrote valuable sacred and instrumental music and composed several oratorios which were highly appreciated by his contemporaries. Today his pieces of music are scattered in the most important European libraries. During the period he lived in Faenza, Bigaglia performed his own oratorios in Brisighella, Solarolo, Lugo, Rimini, Bologna. “L’Abele”, one of his most successful works for the richness of its music, was composed in 1734 and performed in Solarolo under the conduction of its author in the same year. Today’s execution is a tribute to Solarolo’s ancient splendour and comes out of a long and demanding recovering work on manuscripts found in Venice at the “Fondazione Cini” and never printed. The poetic text of the “sacred composition” by Bigaglia looks as a sort of adaptation of the famous one by Pietro Metastasio. The plot comes from the Bible (Genesis: IV, 1-6). The role of Abele, an innocent victim of the human evil, is portrayed as a symbol of Jesus and his sacrifice for the world’s Redemption. According to the custom of those times, music is arranged on the basis of numbers and includes a twofold introduction, Recitatives, Arias, one Arioso, one Concertato, and a final Choir. The development is agile, learned and pleasantly woven.

Albino Varotti
Venice, Monastery of San Giorgio Maggiore 5.3.1993

1 - Sinfonia 1'17"
2 - Recitativo 0'50" Adamo
3 - Aria 2'56" Adamo
4 - Recitativo 0'46" Eva
5 - Aria 2'24" Eva
6 - Recitativo 1'05" Abele Caino
7 - Aria l'18" Caino
8 - Recitativo 1'24" Eva Adamo
9 - Aria 2'29" Eva
10 -Recitativo 0'27" Abele Caino
11 - Duetto 2'45" Abele Caino
12 -Recitativo 1'30" Adamo
13 - Aria 2'34" Adamo
14 - Finale I 3'57" Caino - Abele
15 - Introduzione 2'45"
16 - Recitativo 0'41" Abele - Caino
17 - Arioso 0'35" Abele
18 - Recitativo 0'12" Caino
19 - Recitativo 0'28" Abele - Caino
20 - Aria 3'22" Caino
21 - Recitativo 1'07" Adamo - Caino
22 - Aria 4'02" Adamo
23 - Recitativo 0'58" Caino
24 - Aria 1'40" Caino
25 - Recitativo 2'30" Eva - voce d'Abele Adamo
26 - Concertato 3'52" Eva - Abele Adamo
27 - Finale - Tutti 2'13"

TOTAL 51'03"

Sound Engineer: Paolo Fedi Equipment: Neumann - Microphones and Studer Recorder Monitor System: Klipsch - Loudspeakers Tape: Basf and 3 M

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