AGOSTINO STEFFANI (1654-1728): Orlando generoso.

Description: For a composer who had considerable influence on the rise of opera in Germany and, in particular, on Keiser, Handel and Telemann, there is precious little of Steffani's stage music on disc. This 1691 opera is from his period at the court in Hanover and contains Steffani's usual high dose of extremely virtuosic music - here a very unusual number of striking duets - which is harmonically rich and expressive with seemingly endless felicities of colorful accompaniment. 3 CDs. Italian libretto. Daniel Lager, Kai Wessel, Franz Vitzthum (countertenors), Roberta Invernizzi, Susanne Rydén, Jörg Waschinski (sopranos), Wolf Matthias Friedrich (bass), Musica Alta Ripa; Bernward Lohr.