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PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Istante Collective is asking for Continuo Foundation’s support towards the costs of a live CD recording of late 18th-century arias, starring soprano Hilary Cronin. This project has been conceived as an opportunity to explore a diverse and original range of opera buffa repertoire through the lens of the text of their common librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte. Da Ponte was a central figure in Vienna at the time, versatile enough to work for all three major composers who consistently quoted each other in their works (Mozart, Salieri & Martin y Soler), as well as lesser-known figures such as Francesco Bianchi and Stephen Storace. Da Ponte’s chameleon-like, adventurous life story reflects a spirit of adaptability that was intrinsic to 18th-century musical practice. As contemporary HIP performers we sometimes overlook the fact that original scores were perhaps the expression of an ideal in the composer’s imagination, while in reality performances featured frequent rearrangements and artistic compromises in order to work around a range of external limitations, such as singers’ requests, censorship and rehearsal difficulties. Such a flexible ethos is not dissimilar from the approach adopted by our ensemble: as HIP performers we have been trained to question and re-adapt our classical interpretations, and over the years we have searched for creative solutions to stage opera performances without the resources available to large venues and festivals. As it enters its second decade of activity, IC wishes to embrace that same resourcefulness by presenting opera repertoire in a concert setting, re-arranging it for a smaller scoring with the assistance of experienced opera editor Pedro Beriso (Salzburg Festspiele editor). Our ensemble will consist of a dynamic chamber group that will offer both support and a conversational springboard for Hilary, mirroring the dramatic power expressed by the endless invention and nuances in Da Ponte’s texts, which inspired the compositions of Mozart, Salieri & Martin y Soler.
A live recording model has been chosen in order to capture the immediacy and spontaneity that can be lost in over-edited commercial recordings, again remaining closer to how musical performances would have been experienced in the pre-recording age. Continuo Foundation would support the cost of musicians’ fees to include more rehearsal, the cost of post-concert corrections, as well post-production expenses. Baroquestock/Heath Street Baptist Church will provide the venue, recording facilities and a 10-year legacy that has produced a loyal following in its audience and supporters. The CD will be published by Novantiqua, who already published IC's debut CD ‘Little things in Odd Shapes’ in 2018, and fundraising in the form of a CD pre-sale will begin in February 2026. Realising such a project would be an important milestone in celebrating as well as building upon IC’s long-term ambition to continue providing accessible and sustainable performances of opera rep.