Countertenor Franco Fagioli’s new album scrutinises the world of the Neapolitan composer and singing teacher, Nicola Porpora (1686-1768). He was as famous in his day as a trainer of castrati as he was for his operas, and Fagioli gallantly argues in a sleeve note that learning to sing his arias is itself a lesson in technique. The music is attractive but variable: during a stay in London in the 1730s, Porpora was widely admired as Handel’s rival, though he lacks the latter’s melodic immediacy and psychological range. But Fagioli is an utterly beguiling interpreter, both in the big display pieces, where his vocal athleticism is staggering, and in slower, more intimate numbers such as Torbido Intorno al Core from Meride e Selinunte, where both he and Porpora are at their most affecting. There’s terrific playing, too, from the Academia Montis Regalis under Alessandro de Marchi.
