![Arie Napoletane (Decca).](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/WHEKWL74Z37YOCZ45WQYOB5PPQ.jpg?auth=8925fa530260ad366c7f2639825b0e00277a152ce0c32a9645ec3abd769cf078&width=16&height=16&quality=70&smart=true)
The opening chorus of the second cantata which easily lives up to its opening line, 'Sound ye drums, Ring out, ye trumpets'.
Countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic's new Arie Napoletane is an engrossing collection of operatic showpieces by Alessandro Scarlatti, Leonardo Leo, Leonardo Vinci and Nicola Porpora.
Italy's southernmost city has always been famous for its popular songs such as O Sole Mio and Funiculi Funicula but in the 18th century, it was also one of the country's liveliest operatic centres.
The well-travelled English historian Charles Burney, touring Naples in 1770, may have found musical activities on the streets to be noisy and vulgar, but one visit to a theatre impressed him with music that was full of fire and fancy. This is just what Cencic catches on this splendidly recorded outing, in partnership with that doyen of Baroque bands, Il Pomo d'Oro, under Max Emelyanychev.