Details: Antonio Caldara (1670-1736) was revered by his contemporaries as one of the greatest European composers. After his training, he worked in the most important cities and courts of Italy as well as in Barcelona at the court of King Charles III of Habsburg. When he was elected Emperor as Charles VI, he brought the composer to the Habsburg court in Vienna as vice-chapelmaster. At the height of his creative powers, Caldara created the oratorio Gioseffo che interpreta i sogni (Joseph, the interpreter of dreams) for the Viennese imperial court in 1726. It takes up the Old Testament story of Joseph, who interprets dreams in prison during his Pharaonic captivity, until this even reaches the Pharaoh. He has him released from prison and finally elevates him to the rank of minister because of his gift. In addition to the biblical figures of Joseph and Pharaoh as well as the baker and the cupbearer, the librettist Giovanni Battista Neri adds the figure of the deceitful servant Zedekiah and a narrator who comments on the action in a lyrical manner. Caldara set his text to music according to the musical taste of the emperor, who, as an accomplished connoisseur, also appreciated artful counterpoint and fugue technique. The work is also characterized by it's colourful orchestration, in which instruments such as the chalumeau and psaltery are also used. Antonio Caldara's immense oeuvre comprises several thousand works, which are only gradually becoming known to the public.

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