Cappella Mediterranea & Choeur de Chambre de Namur . Leonardo Garcia Alarcón

The leading Argentine conductor Garcia Alarcón has a dream cast to hand for a special project, 'Il Diluvio Universale', a musical spectacle that sits halfway between opera and oratorio. The plot is based on the Biblical story of the Flood and Noah's Ark, which we see here through the eyes of the seventeenth-century Sicilian composer Michelangelo Falvetti. His recipe is typically Early Baroque: soloists and chorus alternate with each other, the score is filled with energetic recitatives and reflective arias, and emotion dominates not only the musical fabric, but also the fortunes of the characters. "The discovery of the season", "sung with verve and excitement", "lively and entertaining", "one wishes that more of Falvetti's music were available" are among the things the critics had to say about the recording of the work - eulogies and star-ratings have kept on piling up. A live performance of this musical fireball thus promises to be an unforgettable experience.