Haymarket Opera Company: Leonardo Vinci: Arteserse
Cedille Records

One of the highlights of the 2022-23 period was the release of the Haymarket Opera Company's triumphant world-premiere recording of Joseph Bologne's 1780 comic opera L'Amant Anonyme (accorded the sixth spot in the classical vocal category in textura's best-of-2023 roundup). Listeners can now rejoice over the arrival of the Chicago-based company's follow-up and second Cedille release, a three-and-a-half-hour, triple-CD presentation of Leonardo Vinci's Baroque masterpiece Artaserse (1730). Without question, the release, only the second full-length recording of the work, upholds Haymarket's reputation as a leader in historically informed performances of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century opera and oratorio repertoire.

An illustrious ensemble of singers was assembled for the cast. Delivering performances of verve and enthusiasm are countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim in the title role and countertenor Key'mon Murrah, mezzo-soprano Emily Fons, and male soprano Elijah McCormack as Arbace, Mandane, and Semira, respectively. Joining them are tenor Eric Ferring as the murderous Artabano and countertenor Ryan Belongie as the scheming Megabise. Recorded in July 2025 at DePaul University, the release sees conductor Craig Trompeter putting the vocalists and the Haymarket Opera Orchestra, featuring period musicians performing strings, woodwinds, lute, harpsichord, and other instruments, through their paces. Interestingly, when the work was premiered in Rome in 1730, women were not permitted to appear on the opera stage and consequently all of the female roles were portrayed by castrati, countertenors used in more modern productions. Today, of course, no such restrictions factored into the personnel chosen for the roles, so the best possible singer was found for each part.

Not to be confused with Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Baroque composer Leonardo Vinci (1690–1730) wrote approximately forty operas, but it's his last, Artaserse, that has received much attention. Set to an Italian libretto by Pietro Metastasio, the work is intricately plotted but riveting nonetheless. Par for the opera course, romance, murder, intrigue, cross-plotting, and political maneuvering emerge. Haymarket's own synopsis runs as follows: “When King Serse is mysteriously assassinated, his son, Artaserse, ascends the throne amidst a storm of intrigue. Arbace, the son of the powerful general Artabano, finds himself unjustly accused of the murder. Secretly in love with Artaserse's sister Mandane, Arbace must clear his name while navigating the treacherous politics of the court. Unbeknownst to all but Arbace, the true murderer is Artabano, driven by ruthless ambition to place Arbace on the throne. Yet Artabano's devotion to his son conflicts with his insatiable hunger for power, creating a moral chasm that threatens to destroy them both.” However complex the opera's story-line might appear, it suffers no lack of clarity when it develops across three acts and adheres to the classic three-part design: act one for establishing of plot, character, and conflict; act two for complications extending out of the first act; and act three for action, climax, and denouement.

In addition to the physical release, a digital version is available that comprises the overture, all twenty-eight arias, and final chorus; recitatives are almost entirely absent, however. It's a shorter treatment then, but the optimal experience of Artaserse is one that includes every instrumental passage, aria, and recitative (even when one of the latter pushes past eight minutes, as happens midway through the second act). Enhancing one's appreciation of the work is an informative booklet commentary by Louise K. Stein, Emerita Professor at the University of Michigan.

After a rousing “Introductione” sets the scene with Mozart-ian energy, the first act unfolds via alternating recitatives and arias, each part compact and elevated by the vocal splendour of the singers. The opening recitative featuring Murrah and Fons immediately reveals the virtuosic calibre of the vocal talents in play, while the rhapsodic aria that follows (“Conservati fedele”) grants Fons the first of many terrific showcases and shows how tremendous a partner the instrumentalists are to the singers. Clear contrast between the vocalists allows for easy character identification, a case in point the subsequent recitative with tenor Ferring and countertenor Murrah. As Fons impresses during her opening aria, so too do Murrah (“Fra cento affanni”), Ferring (“Su le sponde del torbido Lete”), Belongie (“Sogna il guerrier le schiere”), and McCormack ("Bramar di perdere”) during their own dynamic first turns. The second and third acts follow the template established by the first, with recitatives and arias alternating again in glorious manner. The final act opens with Murrah singing the moving arioso “Perché tarda è mai la morte” from a prison within the royal fortress, its despairing tone in marked contrast to the effervescently uplifting ones that follow, “L'onda dal mar divisa,” “Nuvoletta opposta al sole,” and “Ardito ti renda.” A definite highlight of the third act is the ravishing “Tu vuoi ch'io viva, o cara” duet sung by Murrah and Fons as Arbace reunites with Mandane.

March 2026