Giacomo Carissimi: Jephte – Judicium Salomonis – Motets

Long before our modern age of mass communication, composer Giacomo Carissimi built a celebrated international reputation without ever leaving Italy. In the middle of the 17th century, visitors and students from across Europe traveled to Rome, drawn by Carissimi’s incomparable ability to give vibrant musical expression to every emotion and every word. With even Handel quoting the final chorus of Jephtein his Sampson decades after Carissimi’s death, his profound influence on the musical development of a generation of Baroque composers is clear.

Fresh off a GRAMMY win for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album, the Boston Early Music Festival turns to the work of this exceptional composer in an all-new recording of two extraordinary oratorios—Jephte and Judicium Salomonis—alongside gorgeous motets in Latin and Italian. Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs lead the BEMF Vocal and Chamber Ensembles with a cast featuring Amanda Forsythe (soprano), Danielle Reutter-Harrah (soprano), Felix Schwandtke (bass), James Reese (tenor), Aaron Sheehan (tenor), Cecilia Duarte (mezzo-soprano), and Sarah Hayashi (soprano).