After the sensational worldwide success of Leonardo Vinci´s Artaserse with Cencic and Fagioli, it was only to be expected that Parnassus Productions will give a go to another Vinci opera, and sooner than later they chose his amazing Catone in Utica with a Metastasio libreto. This same libreto was also used by Vivaldi and countless other composers, but of all I have heard, Vinci´s has the finest music.
As with Artaserse, Catone in Utica was produced in Rome where women were banned from the stage, so castrati sang the female roles. Here Valer Sabadus and Vince Yi do well in those roles, but star countertenors Max Emanuel Cencic and Franco Fagioli have the male bravura roles, especially Fagioli who sings Cesare, a role created for Giovanni Carestini, who later went to London to work with Handel. Fagioli and Cencic once more leave you speechless and in awe with their vocal pyrotechnics. The last aria of CD 2, "Se in campo armato", for Cesare, with rousing trumpets and timpani, is not to be believed, I had to play it 3 times straight.
Also Spanish tenor Juan Sancho should be mentioned in the role of Catone, his music is sheer murder for high coloratura writing, it is certainly not a flawless performance, but one has to acknowledge that he does a lot in a role that 30 years ago might have been thought unsingable.
Il Pomo d´Oro and Riccardo Minasi play the score with super virtuoso efficiency and exquisite taste, they quite match Concerto Köln and Diego Fasolis in the Artaserse.
This is the only DECCA opera recording in more than a year [if I´m not mistaken], and they gave it a lavish production with super high quality audio and a gorgeous libreto the size of a small Bible. DECCA used to be the opera company [they advertised as such], maybe they no longer are THE opera company, but fortunately they still know how to make an opera recording. This is a vocal feast to rank with their vintage Tebaldi, Di Stefano, Bergonzi and Pavarotti recordings.
