Geminiani: The Enchanted Forest | Movements 1 & 2 | Academy of Ancient Music

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The first two movements of of La Foresta Incantata, by the Italian-born, London-based composer Francesco Geminiani (1687–1762), performed live by Academy of Ancient Music and Laurence Cummings on 28 October 2021 at Milton Court Concert Hall.

This is instrumental music for the 1754 pantomime 'La forêt enchantée' by the Italian impresario Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni (1695-1766).

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The story relates an episode from Gerusalemme liberata, Torquato Tasso’s epic poem of the the First Crusade, published in 1593, somewhat in imitation of Orlando furioso. The Christians, attacking Jerusalem, must cut wood from a nearby forest to build their siege engines, but a spell cast by a Saracen sorcerer has left every tree possessed by malign spirits, such that no Christian hero, however bold, dare enter. Eventually the knight Rinaldo attempts the task, and is surprised to find that the enchanted wood offers him birdsong, sweet-smelling flowers, and nymphs playing musical instruments. Eventually he comes across a myrtle, but as he raises his axe a vision appears of the sorceress Armida, whom he had previously loved. He hesitates to strike, but overcomes his reticence – as well as the transformation of the false Armida into a giant wielding 50 swords – to kill her and thus break the enchantment.

– extract from programme notes © 2021 Lindsay Kemp
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00:00:00 Movement 1 (Andante)
00:01:16 Movement 2 (Allegro Moderato)

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