As a coloratura soprano, Simone Kermes specializes in the virtuosic music of the early eighteenth-century dramma per musica, primarily singing pieces composed by Georg Friedrich Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, and their lesser-known contemporaries. Critics often call her the “Lady Gaga of Baroque music,” a nickname she now embraces, skillfully navigating between the realms of Baroque and pop. What makes her fascinating is her ability to handle the demanding music of the eighteenth-century castrati and prime donne – while fearlessly embracing various elements of pop culture.

In 2020, Kermes’s album “Inferno e Paradiso” was released by Sonic Music, presenting exactly what one would typically expect from such an album. With “such an album,” I refer to the structural similarities of more than 200 album projects released since the turn of the millennium. These albums explore a repertoire of operas by Handel and his contemporaries, organizing them into musically coherent recitals around specific topics, accompanied by detailed textual and graphical support.

A few tracks into the album, the listeners encounter an aria by Lady Gaga, much to the surprise of those who expect only world-premiere recordings by composers such as Antonio Caldara or Johann Adolph Hasse. Here is my transcription and a YouTube-Link for you to listen to.

Kermes commissioned this piece from Finnish composer Jarkko Riihimäki, who is known as a pianist and for his successful arrangements. His task was precise: The piece should emulate the style of Baroque composer Riccardo Broschi (1698–1756), brother of the famous castrato Farinelli.

With the title of this post, I hint on a problem Kermes has approached through her commissioned compositions. Some background information: In recent years, there has been a significant overlap between pop music and Italian Baroque opera in various aspects. When discussing Baroque opera, singers often refer to their album projects as “concept albums,” a format that has originated in 1960s rock music.

References to Baroque castrati often include terms such as “pop star” for the castrato Caffarelli or “rock stars” for all of the castrato singers. This extends to discussions about specific compositions: Cecilia Bartoli’s album “Sacrificium” avoids a musicological idiom on its cover – it does not use the technical term “opera aria”; instead, we can read about “three castrato hits including Handel’s Ombra mai fu.”

The discourse extends beyond artists’ statements or product promotion; it also encompasses stage performances and CD reviews. Well-known figures in Early Music do not shy away from comparisons to pop music, as evidenced, for example, by Jeannette Sorell’s quote: “[Vivaldi] infused his concertos with driving rhythm, and simple, earthy harmonies in order to appeal to teenagers. I think of Vivaldi as the rock’n’roll composer of the 18th century: earthy, energetic, and immediately accessible” (cited after SAMMUT 2019: 19). The histories of the Early Music movement and rock music share common ground. Since the 1960s, rock and pop music have incorporated harpsichord sounds. Musical style copies, of course, aren’t new; similar approaches are evident in Cathy Berberian’s work or projects such as “Beatles go baroque,” not to mention numerous jazz interpretations of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music.

However, and that is the problem I have been addressing, what had not been attempted seriously was bridging the gap between the discourse of Italian Baroque opera as pop music and compositions that surprise or entertain beyond initial listening. Kermes commissioned arrangements of pop songs that borrow musical motifs, lyrics, and forms from the originals while also committing to the current standards of historically informed performance practice in all other aspects.

The concept behind the album “Inferno e Paradiso” pairs Baroque arias fitting the seven deadly sins with those representing the seven virtues. Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face,” of course, represents the deadly sin of “lust.” Kermes argues that this thematic approach applies equally to Baroque arias and pop songs – expressing emotions on these themes resonates from the baroque period to modern times.

Two practical musical aspects also unite Baroque and pop: the album features the same ensemble specializing in historical instruments throughout. This requires an interpretive approach that demands improvisation and ornamentation, which is evident in both Baroque compositions and those of Lady Gaga and Udo Jürgens (1934–2014). The latter, a well-known Austrian singer, was equally at home in the worlds of schlager, chanson, and pop. His hit, “Aber bitte mit Sahne” was also arranged as a Baroque aria, representing gluttony on the album. When Kermes revisits the refrain, she employs historical performance practices, embellishing the score with ornaments – marked here by pink note heads.

This, of course, echoes a Baroque tradition of crafting arias to showcase the singer’s virtuosity, tailored perfectly to Kermes’s voice. Through her commission, Kermes intertwines several elements: a culmination of intense discourse regarding Italian Baroque opera as pop music – now realized in practice – and not only in composition but also in contemporary efforts toward historical performance practice, reviving the tradition of composing music for singers to ornament. Most importantly, she achieves what is often promised in Baroque opera’s reception across various aesthetic dimensions: The old and the new belong together closely; baroque music is still relevant, and modern music focuses on timeless topics, similar to the arias from three hundred years ago.

One final thought on the topic of authorship: It is clearly indicated that these are compositions by Jarkko Riihimäki, yet his presence on this album is far less prominent than that of the singer. This can, of course, be open to further discussion, but in this case, it seems to me that a significant portion of the creative work lies with the singer as a commissioner, who, as a consequence of the current discourse surrounding Baroque opera, has merely outsourced the technical component of composing.

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• Sammut, Andrew: “Rediscovering Vivaldi,” EMAg: The magazine of Early Music America 25 (2019) 3, 16–21

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Information on the author: Alexander Flor (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna)

studied Music Education and Instrumental Pedagogy (Piano) at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw), as well as German Literature at the University of Vienna. In addition to employments as a high school and piano teacher, he was a research assistant at the Department of Musicology and Performance Studies at mdw. Since 2020, he has been teaching as a university assistant for Performance Studies and pursuing his PhD studies there. His current research focuses on historical performance practice, reception aesthetics of baroque opera, the recording industry, and connections between music and literature. Contact: flor-a@mdw.ac.at

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