The two chamber cantatas for Alto 2

Galuppi’s secular vocal chamber music comprises at least around ten works, in varied vocal and instrumental combinations, and belongs mostly to his final creative period. These compositions are of great interest both on account of the intrinsic quality of their texts and through the artistic maturity of the composer. Galuppi’s cantata La gelosia for alto/contralto and strings – based on a poetry by Pietro Metastasio – has come down to us in the form of a non-autograph score, dated 1782, preserved in Paris at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

The cantata comprises two recitatives and two arias: the recitatives are noteworthy for their frequent use of accompanied rather than simple (secco) recitative, evidently for the purpose of reinforcing the dramatic dimension of the action. The arias, both very beautiful and highly typical of Galuppi’s style, are distinguished by the quality of their melodic design and the resourcefulness of their orchestral accompaniment. In this edition – which includes score and separate parts – the errors present in the source are corrected and the historical-musical context relating to the text of the cantata is reconstructed, as far as possible, with particular reference to the Galuppi’s setting. A sample realization of the basso continuo is also provided.