Basso furioso

Tyrants, cyclops and kings take centre stage on Basso Furioso, a showcase for the dramatic power of the baroque bass voice. Handel’s arias span a quarter of a century and six different bass singers, from the monstrous Polifemo of Aci, Galatea e Polifemo and the wounded king of Ariodante to the heroic Varo in Ezio, the scheming Oronte in Floridante and the boastful emperor Claudius in Agrippina. Alongside them are four arias by Antonio Caldara, all written for the Viennese bass Christoph Praun and rarely heard today. Three of them are world premiere recordings, among them a spectacular call to arms for four trumpets and timpani and a duet with two interweaving bassoons. The programme also includes the world premiere studio recording of Handel’s Affanno tiranno from Acis and Galatea.

The idea came after Bolivian-born bass José Coca Loza won the 2019 Voci Olimpiche competition in Vicenza and Andrea Marcon suggested making a recording together. Together with musicologist Bernardo Ticci, whose research uncovered Praun and Caldara’s music, they shaped this programme. Marcon leads La Cetra Barockorchester Basel, with brass, bassoons and theorbo adding colour to the arias’ effects. Recorded in 2021, this is a bold and virtuosic debut that shows how much expression a bass can bring to the baroque repertoire.

José Coca Loza, bass
La Cetra Barockorchester Basel
Andrea Marcon, conductor