Michelangelo Falvetti: Il diluvio universale

Mariana Flores, Lucia Martín-Cartón, Caroline Weynants (soprano), Christopher Lowrey (contre-ténor), Valerio Contaldo (ténor), Matteo Bellotto (baritone)

Chœur de Chambre de Namur / Cappella Mediterranea

Musical direction : Leonardo García Alarcón

ONE OF THE BIGGEST SUCCESSES OF THE MUSICAL SCENE! AN ENCHANTMENT!

During the past eight years, few works have aroused in the public such intense emotion as that provoked by the rediscovery of Diluvio Universale by Michelangelo Falvetti (1642-1692). The incredible beauty of the music of this hitherto completely forgotten composer touched all who approached him.

In the tradition of Carissimi and Handel, the music of Falvetti, of great originality, is commensurate with Sicily, a mixed land known for having mixed songs from the East and the West. Il Diluvio Universale, “dialogue for five voices and five instruments” was performed in Messina in 1682, the year in which Michelangelo Falvetti was appointed choirmaster of the cathedral. The story is taken from one of the most famous and tragic episodes of the Old Testament: God, weary of the wickedness and corruption of mankind, decided to eliminate man and with him all forms of life, causing rain to fall on the earth for forty days and forty nights. He only spared Noah, his family, and the animals of each species, which he had ordered him to shelter in the Ark. This subject lends itself perfectly to dramatic treatment, and the two writers draw inspiration from it in a very effective way throughout the play. The libretto, written by Vincenzo Giattini, allowed Falvetti to exploit the drama with a genius very rare in the works of this period.