by Luigi Speranza for "Gli Operai" jlsperanza@aol.com
The sparkling piece,"Gia il sole dal Gange", made world-famous by Pavarotti, is one of Scarlatti's most popular vocal compositions and a frequent recital piece.
Its highly accented rhythms and crisp pacing provide a striking contrast to the typically more languidly amorous or flirtatious "arie antiche" (the name Parisotti gave to his collection of excerpts from early Italian operas.)
Like most sources of arie antiche, the original opera, "L'honesta negli amori", which premiered at the Teatro Capanica -- revived Palazzo Bernini, Roma, in 1680 -- is almost completely forgotten except as the source for this piece.
The song describes the sun rising over the Ganges river, brightening and enlivening the landscape with its rays.
Scarlatti brilliantly captured this mood with a vigorous major-key setting with a brisk pace, steadily ascending lines in each verse, and a sharply accented ornamentation.
In one striking arrangement, Gamley heightened this effect by adding a trumpet obbligato.
The pace fractionally slows as the text describes the sun drying the tears of the weeping dawn, but it soon returns to the original tempo, returning the emphasis to the sun's brightness.
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