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The world première recording of Sub olea pacis et palma virtutis won the Cannes Classical Award in 2002 and was released by Supraphon, a label that works closely with Musica Florea. Performed on authentic instruments, the CD deserves its award, no doubt, but the addition of the world-class soloists at the German première means that the recording pales in comparison. On the CD, Nancy Argenta's student Noemi Kiss sings the soprano part but it is much nicer to hear the expert herself, although Kiss is good, of course. Markus Foster, the Innsbruck-born countertenor, has a nice soft timbre but lacks the experience that Oliver brings to his performance of the same role. The only favorable comparison between recording and German première is Adam Zdunikowski, the Polish tenor who features on the CD. Zdunikowski, Warsaw-born, was a finalist in the International Opera Contest Belveder in Vienna. By 1996, he sang at the Hamburg opera. As such, he is in a different league to Jaroslav Brezina, the tenor at the German performance, who started out as a violinist and was originally part of a boys' choir before he became a soloist with the Czech-based Capella Regia Musicalis.  Jan Dismas Zelenka: Sub olea pacis et palma virtutis Supraphon Records SU 3520-2 232 Watch out for a forthcoming interview with Flavio Oliver |
