Boerio: Bello tiempo passato (Intermezzo from the opera "Il disperato innocente") [Blu-ray]

Bello tiempo passato (Intermezzo aus der Oper "Il disperato innocente", Neapel 1673) (attr. Francesco Antonio Boerio)

Revision and reconstruction of the manuscript by Antonio Florio

In the early 1670s, shortly after Venetian opera had become established in Naples, a number of comic characters began to appear in both secular and sacred operas. These standard characters included the 'Neapolitan', the 'Calabrese' and the 'Boy', and all three, as well as a fourth, the 'Spaniard', appear in a comic intermezzo inserted into the 1673 opera Il disperato innocente by the little-known Francesco Antonio Boero.

This is the oldest surviving comic intermezzo from the Neapolitan period and, like the prologue, appears to have been written by other authors. This recording features a historically informed performance by Antonio Florio with Pino De Vittorio, exploring the tradition of the intermezzo in 17th century acts.

Recorded at Domus Ars (San Francesco delle Monache), Naples, 13–14 March 2023