The Music for Awhile Ensemble:
June Wilson (soprano)
Lily Kettlewell (contralto)
Andrew Gold (tenor)
Gordon Holdom (baritone)
Robert Keys (piano)
Dopo due lustri (Donna Caritea ) Or la, sull' onda (II Giuramento) Nel seggio placido (Andronico)
Soave immagine d'amor (Andronico)
Vicino a chi s'adora (II Giuramento)
Saverio Mercadante was one of the lesser Italian opera composers of the nineteenth century. Born near Bari in 1795, he studied in Naples and became organist at Novara Cathedral; he was appointed Director of the Conservatorio of Naples in 1840, and died thirty years later. This programme consists of excerpts from three of his operas: Andronico (written in 1822), Donna Caritea (produced in Venice in 1826) and Ii Giuramento (his greatest success, given in Milan in 1837). D. C.