DOMENICO MAZZOCCHI (1592-1665): La Catena d'Adone.

Description: Mazzocchi's only surviving opera (a sorceress rejected by Adonis stirs up trouble) was given in 1626, with a prologue and five acts, each of the latter consisting of three or four short scenes, the last of which is choral, polyphonic and with dancing (were you to actually see it...). His recitatives are notable for being punctuated by what he called mezz'arie, brief passages in song style which scholars have seen as precursors the later cavatina. 2 CDs. Italian-English libretto. Luciana Mancini (mezzo), Reinoud Van Mechelen (tenor), Merel Elishevah Kriegsman, Catherine Lybaert (sopranos), Scherzi Musicali; Nicolas Achten.