Hasse at Home - Cantatas and Sonatas

Since Romain Rolland formulated his appreciative judgement of Johann Adolf Hasse, and his desire to rescue him from neglect, the fundamentally important role played by the composer in eighteenth century musical life has been confirmed in ever more incontrovertible fashion. Born in Bergedorf, on the outskirts of Hamburg, Hasse travelled a path in life and music from the triumphant Baroque of Alessandro Scarlatti to the high Classicism of Joseph Haydn, from Naples to Vienna, from Dresden to Venice, and from the French court to the Prussian, a path that made him a master of vocal music, setting texts in both Italian and Latin.

This recording gains entry to this exclusive world - much of which is still to be discovered - not through the door of the opera house, but through the often far grander entrances of aristocrats' urban mansions and country residences, where music-making in a smaller space for an audience of the chosen few provided the ideal opportunity for composers to experiment, theorise and enjoy themselves. Althought the vocal forms remained the same as in opera - first and foremost the da capo aria with recitative - it was the way in which they were used and the locations in which they were sung that determined the singular features of these cantatas and arias. Because these works were performed in close physcial proximity to thier audicene, every tiny expressive and tonal gesture was discernable.