This remarkable recording devoted to the music of Giacomo Facco, master of music to Carlo Filippo Antonio Spinola, Viceroy of Sicily and his son Carlo, is the first in what will hopefully be many devoted to the music of this composer. The treaty of Utrecht in 1713 spelled the cessation of Spanish control of Sicily. Spinola returned to Spain where Facco was presented to the king and became maestro to the royal children, Louis I, Ferdinand VI, and Charles III. Anibale Cetrangolo, the leading scholar on the music of Facco, has chosen music, a Loa and a Serenata, composed during Facco's travels with Spinola to Lisbon, a journey which laid the foundations for the marriage of the heir apparent of Portugal to the daughter of the King of Spain. 
The Loa and the Serenata are both genres which are rarely heard today, but were central undertakings in court musical culture in the 18th century. The honorific text of the Loa, "Amor aumenta el valor," by Joseph de Cañizares, focuses upon the characters "Success" and "Triumph", and bears little relation to the remainder of the opera libretto of the same name. The music for the opera has not survived.
The Loa consists of four movements, a duet, recitative and aria, and a concluding chorus. With solo passages to texts that proclaim the triumph of love and its all powerful ability to lead Fernando, the heir apparent to the Portuguese throne, and Mariana, daughter of Philip V to a cosmic union that will ensure prosperity and peace between the Iberian nations, this panegyric undertaking marked Marquis Spinola's homage to the Portuguese court. 
Facco's music is remarkably suited to the importance of this event. The writing for the singers is dazzling, especially in the opening duet. The orchestral writing is also brilliant. While the vocal soloists are not identified by name in the highly informative accompanying booklet but only on the CD container, "Success" (Lia Serafini) has a scintillating command of the style of early 18th-century Italian opera. "Triumph" (Sylva Pozzer), while not the same type of voice, presents a clear and commanding musical personality as well. The small orchestra, performing on period instruments, is made up of strings, recorders, oboes, trumpets, continuo group with bassoon and not violone and percussion. The real stars in this instrumental ensemble are the two trumpet players G. Cassone and F. Grigolo. Their ornamental passage work in both the opening duet and the aria present some fine period brass playing.
The featured work on this disc, FESTO HARMÓNICO, QUE EN OBSEQUIO DEL DIA DEL NOMBRE DE SU MAGESTAD CATHOLICA, was performed on 1 May 1727 in Lisbon, again with text by the court poet Cañizares. Like all paeans to a monarch, this serenata for six voices was as much about the Marqués de los Balbázes (Spinola) as it was about Philip. The twenty-five movements include an overture, minuet and opening and closing choruses. The characters, "Inspiration" (Silvia Piccollo), "Fama" (Sylva Pozzer), "Inmortalidad" (Lia Serafini), "Poder" (Bianca Simone), "Logro" (Luca Dordolo) and "Obsequio" (Alberto Mazzocco), through a succession of recitatives and arias, proclaim the magnanimity of Philip V and his world-wide kingdom. 
If one can get past the obsequiousness of the text, there is scintillating music here. Convention dominates the aria types, all being da capo in structure, but their varying characters, tempi and orchestration bespeak a musical talent of considerable range. The recitatives are the heart, both emotional and harmonic, of this work, and call forth some of the finest singing from all of the soloists. The unsung heroes (if you'll forgive the pun) are the remarkable Coro de la Compagnia dei Febi Armonici. They perform their opening and closing functions with great drive and precision, and also provide the stirring finale to the Loa.
Anibale Cetrangolo has assembled a strong group of young singers and players and has brought into audible existence two works of singular moment in the compositional career of Giacomo Facco and the history of music in Spain. Beyond that, each of these works reminds us of genres that should no longer be ignored, either in research or in performance. One hopes that this stirring recording will be received widely and with sufficient enthusiasm that its success spawns a number of sequels. (WJS)

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