I Dilettanti is an album from Catalan countertenor Xavier Sabata accompanied by members of the Greek baroque group Latinitas Rostra with Markellos Chryssicos at the harpsichord. The works on the disk are all from the late 17th and early 18th century and are by, as the title might suggest, people who aren’t primarilyknown as composers such as the singer Vincenzo Benedetti and the nobleman/adventurer Emanuele d’Astorga. The format of the pieces too is relatively unfamiliar. All but two tracks are chamber cantatas, probably intended for domestic entertainment rather than theatre or concert hall. The exceptions are two arias from Ruggieri’s Armida Abbandonata though as they are presented here, like all the other works, just basso continuo accompaniment they don’t sound obviously different.
I Dilettanti
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This review first appeared in the print edition of 
operaramblings 