Almost every week we read a reference to the 24 Italian Songs and Arias.
You would think, from reading this list, that these were the only - or
even undoubtedly the best - songs in this genre. I've had the "yellow
peril" for more years than there are songs in it, and there are times
when I get heartily sick of hearing it mentioned ;-)
For a start, I still have (are they now out of print?) a 2-volume
edition of Parisotti arrangements containing some absolute gems which
aren't in the 24. They were a Schirmer publication too, also yellow, but
with a smaller format page. Then there is a volume published by the
Associated Board in London containing some beautiful examples, and I had
(but lost) something published by Ricordi, I think it was called
something like La Flora - or is that another set? It certainly contained
a most beautiful "Venticel che sussurando" - as I say, I've lost my copy
so I can't name the composer, could be Astorga. And in one book I met
Frescobaldi's "Se L'aura Spira" which I wouldn't have met if I'd stuck
to the 24. And there's lots of good Vivaldi. (Aaarghhh no,
spell-checker, I do NOT mean Vividly, hear you are, learn "Vivaldi" -
good - now stop making daft suggestions or I'll disable you)
So let's - now mixing my metaphors with wild and joyful abandon - stop
genuflecting at the 24 and put them into mothballs on the back burner
for a couple of years and start exploring some other collections. The
Parisotti book brought much of this repertoire to public attention, but
at least two of them are mis-attributed (one of them deliberately, as
it's now believed to be by Parisotti himself)
What other sources of Arie Antiche do the rest of you use?
--
Linda Fox, Cambridge UK
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