It is likely that Antonio Caldara’s Gloria for Eight Voices, previously unpublished and never performed in modern times, dates back to his Spanish period. The musicologist Luca della Libera handled the transcription, while Mirko Guadagnini took charge of the direction and artistic production for the recording under the Urania Records label.
This composition, of great beauty and with a complex and intricate structure, challenges the singers to perform ambitious sections, almost in solo parts (with up to eight male voices). It presents an intriguing contrast and competition with the works of Antonio Vivaldi, Caldara’s contemporary, who composed his famous Gloria six years later (in 1714), a piece now well-known and performed almost everywhere in the world.
What immediately stands out to the listener is how both Caldara and Vivaldi incorporate the typical sounds of the Venetian Baroque period into their compositions, though Caldara enriches his work in a more captivating and harmonically interesting manner.
This is the offering that Intende Voci Ensemble presents for the opening of the 2023 season of the Accademia di Musica Antica di Milano, together with the Canova Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Mirko Guadagnini.
