US TARIFFS UPDATE | August 2025 | No impact expected on your Presto orders | Read full details
The Trials of Tenducci: A Castrato in Ireland
Tara Erraught (mezzo-soprano), Irish Baroque Orchestra, Peter Whelan
Awards:
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2021
[The Mozart] is given a very capable performance by mezzo Tara Erraught, whose attractive tone and warmth are heard to particular advantage in the second aria (‘Tu virginum’)...she copes well...
The Trials of Tenducci: A Castrato in Ireland
Tara Erraught (mezzo-soprano), Irish Baroque Orchestra, Peter Whelan
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2021
[The Mozart] is given a very capable performance by mezzo Tara Erraught, whose attractive tone and warmth are heard to particular advantage in the second aria (‘Tu virginum’)...she copes well...
About
Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra explore the music in Ireland from the 1750s to 1770s. Following a live performance, The Irish Times wrote that ‘Whelan and the IBO are lively guides to this repertoire’ which marks a revolutionary moment where the structures of Baroque music break down and we see the emergence of the Classical style. Many trailblazing early classical composers visited Ir eland during this time including van Maldere, Pasquali and Giordani (some even incorporate Irish traditional melodies into their symphonies). Perhaps the most famous visitor to Ireland at this time was the superstar castrato, Giusto Tenducci, who had works especially written for him by Mozart, Haydn and J. C. Bach. To tell his swashbuckling tale, IBO is joined by present - day superstar Irish mezzo - soprano Tara Erraught, performing works which would have been sung by Tenducci in Ireland. This programme also i ncludes modern - day premieres from the collection at the National Library of Ireland including van Maldere’s Sinfonia in G, known as the ‘Dublin’ Sinfonia, Giordani’s much - admired Overture and Irish Medley to the entertainment of The Isle of Saints and The Braes of Ballenden by J. C. Bach.
Contents and tracklist
Spotlight on this release
-
An error occurred.
Try watching this video on www.youtube.com, or enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser.
Awards and reviews
-
Presto Recordings of the YearFinalist 2021
Early Music Review 8th March 2021
[The Mozart] is given a very capable performance by mezzo Tara Erraught, whose attractive tone and warmth are heard to particular advantage in the second aria (‘Tu virginum’)...she copes well with the coloratura of the first aria and ‘Alleluia’ and as throughout the programme is accompanied neatly, if in quicker music rather clipped fashion, by the IBO.
June 2021
Erraught is a perfect choice to step into [Tenducci's] buckled and heeled shoes, her mezzo blending androgynous muscularity with phenomenal agility…This is an immensely appealing recording – a gripping story told with plenty of verve and style.
19th March 2021
Whelan handles the music with typically invigorating drive and, like the agile mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught, responds to the album’s classical treatment of Irish tunes without undue sentimentality.