Quel augelin che canta (4th
Book of Madrigals) (1)
Qui laudes (1)
Sfogava con le stele (4th
Book of Madrigals) (1)
O stellae (1)
Armato il cor (Scherzi Musicali) (1)
Heu bone vir (1)
Parlo misero taccio (7th
Book of Madrigals) (1)
Longe, mi Jesu (1)
Pianto della Madonna (1)
Piange sospira (4th Book
of Madrigals) (1)
Plorat amare (1)
Si ch’io vorrei morire (4th
Book of Madrigals) (1)
O Jesu, mea vita (1)
Io mi son giovinetta (4th
Book of Madrigals) (1)
Rutilante in nocte (1)
Madrigali Sui Testi del Tasso
Donna, ne mio ritorno (2nd
Book of Madrigals) (2)
S’andasse Amore a caccia (2nd
Book of Madrigals) (2)
Dolcemente dormiva la mia Clori (2nd
Book of Madrigals) (2)
Non si levava ancor l’alba novella (2nd
Book of Madrigals) (2)
E dicea l’una sospirando allora (2nd
Book of Madrigals) (2)
Ardo si ma non t’amo (1st
Book of Madrigals) (2)
Ardi o gela (1st Book of
Madrigals) (2)
Arsi et alsi (1st Book of
Madrigals) (2)
Vivro fra I miei tormenti (3rd
Book of Madrigals) (2)
Ma dove, o lasso me (3rd
Book of Madrigals) (2)
Io pur verro (3rd Book of
Madrigals) (2)
Non sono in queste rive (2nd
Book of Madrigals) (2)
Se tu mi lassi (2nd Book
of Madrigals) (2)
Dolcissimi legami (2nd Book
of Madrigals) (2)
Mentr’io mirava fiso (2nd
Book of Madrigals) (2)
Vattene pur, crudel (3rd
Book of Madrigals) (2)
La tra I sangue e le morti (3rd
Book of Madrigals) (2)
Poichella in se tomo (3rd
Book of Madrigals) (2)
Piange sospira (4th Book
of Madrigals) (2)
7th Book of Madrigals
Symphonis Tempor la Cetra (3)
A Quest’Olmo (3)
Non e di gentil core (3)
O come sei gentile (3)
Io son pur Vezzosetta (3)
O viv fiamma (3)
Vorei Baciarti (3)
Dice la mia Belissima Licori (3)
Ah che non si conviene (3)
Non vedro mai le stele (3)
Ecco Vicine o bela Tigre (3)
Perche fuggi (3)
Tornate (3)
Soave libertate (3)
S’el vostro cor Madonna (3)
Interotte speranze (3)
Augellin (3)
Vaga su spina ascosa (3)
Eccomi pronta a i Baci (3)
Parlo miser o taccio (3)
Tu dormi (3)
Ah Lume dale Stelle (3)
Con che soavita (3)
Ohime dove il mio ben (3)
Se i languidi miei sguardi (3)
Se pur destina (3)
Chiome d’oro (3)
Amor che deggio far (3)
Tirsi Clori Ballo (3)
Scherzi Musicali (1632), Lamento D’Arianna,
Lamento D’Ottavia
Lamento d’Arianna (4)
Maledetto sia l’aspetto (5)
Quel sguardo sdegnosetto (5)
Eri gia tutta mia (4)
Ecco di dolci raggi (5)
Et e pur dunque versio (5)
Zefiro torna (4, 5)
Armato il cor (4, 5)
Si dolce e’l tormento (4)
Perche se m’odiavi (4)
Ohime cho’io cado (5)
La mia turca (5)
Lamento d’Ottavia (4)
Lamento della Ninfa
(6)
Combatimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
(7)
Il Ballo delle Intrate (8)
For many years, the
Consort of Musicke virtually defined
the performance style for Monteverdi’s
madrigals. The first disc of Brilliant’s
Monteverdi Madrigals compilation is
devoted to the Consort’s 1994 disc of
erotic and spiritual madrigals. It is
very much a known quantity as the Consort
is revisiting madrigals that they recorded
in the 1980s. Here they are in stunning
form; technically assured, stylish and
elegant yet more impassioned than in
early records. Though for some tastes,
perhaps, they are still a little cool,
too self-possessed and too English,
but their musical shaping of the text
is so beautiful that it seems rather
churlish to ask for more.
The disc was originally
issued on Anthony Rooley’s Musica Oscura
label and consists of some fascinating
pairings of erotic madrigals with their
sacred contrafacta. The madrigals were
so popular that it is perhaps inevitable
that someone would try and reclaim them
for religion. Here the original texts,
which are rather steamy and quite theatrical,
are transformed into devotional, Christian
pieces. So that Parlo miser’o taccio
from the 4th Book of Madrigals,
becomes Longe, mi Jesu. The author
of the new words has been quite imaginative
in his transformation of metaphors,
so that the battle in the realm of love
in Armato il cor (from the Scherzi
Musicali) becomes a fight to repulse
the devil. And the young, laughing girl
of Io mi son Giovinetta becomes
a choir of rejoicing Angels.
Perhaps the most remarkable
transformation is Pianto della Madonna
which is a sacred version of the Lamento
d’Arianne. Because of its length,
Pianto della Madonna is recorded
on its own, without the original version,
whereas all of the other madrigals are
pairings of the erotic madrigal and
its sacred contrafactum.
One could not hope
to have a better introduction to this
repertoire. These are performances which
are stylish and musically stunning but
retain a power to move and to thrill
with their controlled but passionate
delivery.
The leaflet prints
only the original Italian or Latin words
as is to be expected in a super-budget
disc; but more disturbingly there is
no explanation whatever of the inter-linking
sacred/secular nature of these madrigals.
Surely, if Brilliant really want people
to explore this repertoire they could
have dropped some hints about these
madrigals’ duality.
With the second disc
in the set we go back in time, to 1989
but leap forward in performance style.
Whereas the first disc was recorded
by a mature and distinguished group,
this second disc was recorded by a young
Italian group. Rinaldo Alessandrini
and Concerto Italiano are one of the
new groups who have helped redefine
our ideas about Monteverdian performance
style. The cool, perfection of the Consort
of Musicke is very far away. This recording
dates from quite early in the group’s
career and pre-dates their more famous
Monteverdi outings. The disc is a survey
of Monteverdi’s settings of Tasso. From
the First Book of Madrigals comes the
lovely interlinked trio of Adro si
ma non t’amo, Ardi o gela and
Arsi et alsi, one of Monteverdi’s
first attempts at creating an extended
musical form using linked madrigals.
They include 10 madrigals from the Second
Book; this dates from around the time
Monteverdi moved to Mantua and the influence
of Giaches de Wert is quite strong.
Rather surprisingly, Concerto Italiano
do not include the most famous Tasso
setting from the group Ecco mormorar
l’onde. With the selection of 6
pieces from the Third Book of Madrigals
we reach Monteverdi’s classic madrigal
style. The texts concentrate on Tasso’s
epic poem ‘Gerusalme Liberata’ and his
settings are expressive and chromatic.
Concerto Italiano take
a more forthright view of this music.
The performances are perhaps not as
sophisticated as some of their later
recordings, but there are many virtues
of their very text-based performance
style; after all here we have Italians
singing in Italian. The sophistication
and blend of The Consort of Musicke
is replaced by immediacy and vividness.
There are the occasional technical blemishes
and the recording is slightly too close
and dry and inevitably a group of young
singers, no matter how talented, cannot
quite reproduce the responsiveness of
an ensemble as mature as The Consort
of Musicke. An interesting comparison
is the last item on Concerto Italiano’s
disc, Piange sospira, their only
item from the Fourth Book of Madrigals
(this book concentrates on Guarini settings)
which is also sung by the Consort of
Musicke. The Consort’s performance is
controlled, strong on musical virtues
with a superb line but still plangent
and expressive. Whereas Concerto Italiano
give us a richer, more strongly voiced
performance. But there is less sense
of line, less sense of a homogeneous
ensemble and moments when the performance
is perhaps not quite as musically perfect
at the Consort’s performance. They do
however make much more of the text,
which is vividly coloured and the result
is highly dramatic.
The 3rd
and 4th discs are taken up
by a complete performance of the 7th
Book of Madrigals by another Italian
group, the "Ensemble Concerto"
directed by Roberto Gini. This book
of madrigals was published in Mantua
in 1619 with the general title of Concerto.
Though some monodies are included, this
book is mainly devoted to chamber duets
which require virtuosity from the singers.
The larger scale works contrast ensemble
sections with solos and duets.
These performances
were recorded in 1988 and in some respects
the recordings show their age. The opening
Symphonia Tempro la Cetra is
characterised by a big-boned, rich string
sound and the unnamed tenor is superbly
open throated with a remarkable falsetto
extension, but the total effect still
succeeds in being vivid and rather stylish.
The following 6 part ensemble, A
Quest’Olmo sounds almost choral
in texture, though admittedly Gino gets
a very fluid performance from his ensemble.
The attention to the text is rather
disappointing and the same is true of
the pieces for 2 solo sopranos. Non
e gentil core also rather lacks
passion. In Io son pur Vezzosetta
the two soprano soli achieve a more
intimate, confiding tone but the performance
has the odd rough edge and tuning problems.
The two male altos (none of the soloists
are named) in Vorei Baciarti
sing with a rather tenorish tones. The
tenors themselves in their duets contribute
vividly robust performances with stronger
attention to the text than heretofore.
In the trio S’el vostro cor Madonna
the tenors are joined by a rather grainy
bass and the tenors do display some
unsteadiness. But this disc of this
pair ends with a vividly vigorous performance
by the two tenore of Interotte speranze
a setting of a sonnet by Guarini.
Anyone wishing for
an ideal performance of the 7th
Book of Madrigals had better look at
performances by the Consort of Musicke
or Concerto Italiano. The performance
here, though not ideal, has its charms
and provides a fine introduction to
the work.
The 4th
disc of the set (the second of the complete
performance of the 7th Book
of Madrigals) is devoted mainly to the
more multi-part pieces. The trio Augellin
is typical of much of this group’s work
here, it lacks the musical polish and
sophistication of better known groups.
But their vivid performance has the
virtues of freshness and spontaneity.
Some people will be bothered by the
occasional technical problems; in Tu
dormi they display some rather smudgy
passage work and the quality of the
solo voices in pieces like Parlo
miser o taccio and Al lume delle
stele is not always ideal. But I
rather enjoyed the spontaneity of the
performances, their lack of a studied
air; also, when the group is on form,
they bring a fine attention to the text.
Parlo miser o taccio is also
sung by the Consort of Musicke. Where
the Consort’s three women give a crisp,
stylish performance with lightly touched
in passagework combined with an affecting
expressiveness, the two women and one
man of Concerto Italiano are more deliberate,
richer voiced and with attention to
the text giving a darker, more dramatic
version.
In the concerto for
solo voice and instruments Con che
suavita, the tenor’s fine performance
is rather over spot-lit for my tastes,
I could have wished he had been given
a better balance with the string parts
rather than relegating them to a discreet
accompaniment. This piece, to a text
by Guarini, alludes to monody as the
solo alternates with the instrumental
choruses. Though here sung by a tenor,
I had understood that the piece was
written for a soprano. In Ohime dove
il mio ben is a romanesca in which
the two sopranos spin beautifully expressive
dissonances over a repeating bass line.
Siei languidi miei
squardi and Se pur destina e
vole are the two true monodies in
the set. These are two love letters
and the score describes them as being
acted. In Siei languidi miei squardi
the soprano has a voice quality
somewhat reminiscent of Cathy Berberian
and she gives a detailed and affecting
performance. Her vocal quality is notably
for its fragility and the rather romantic
way she shades off her voice; I could
have wished for more intensity. The
tenor soloist in Se pur destina e
vole also gives a fine understated
performance.
Chiome d’oro
is a cheerful attractive piece set off
by some crisp ritornelli. It is perhaps
more familiar in its later guise as
the Beatus Vir.
The disc finishes with
the ballo Tirsi e Clori which
was written in Mantua and performed
there in 1616. It is a short dialogue
madrigal for two singers and strings,
Tirsi is a well characterised tenor
soloist who contrasts nicely with the
soprano’s limpidly beautiful Clori.
The whole concludes with lively choral
finale compensates for its roughness
round the edges by being robust and
vivid.
The sixth disc is devoted
to the Scherzi Musicali from 1632 framed
by two laments, those of Arianna and
Ottavia. The 1632 Scherzi Musicali contain
a group of simple strophic songs for
voice and continuo along with some superb
works using the form of variation over
a ground bass.
The disc opens with
the Lamento d’arianna which dates
from 1608 and is the only survivor from
the complete opera. It is sung by Manuela
Custer who has a rich, dark, mezzo-soprano
voice with more than a hint of vibrato
and she gives a strong, big-boned interpretation
of the piece.
The first of the Scherzi
Musicali, Maledetoo si la’spetto,
introduces Rosita Frisani who has an
attractive, rich soprano voice. she
makes the most of her words but in
Quel squardo sdegnosetto, with its
attractively varied stanzas over almost
identical bass lines, her passage-work
is disappointing. Frisani opens Ecco
di dolci Raggi with a beautifully
shaped vocal line which contrasts well
with her vivid delivery of the later
verses. Her delivery in Et et pur
dunque vero is again vivid and dramatic;
here she is joined by a crisp violin
solo.
The outstanding work
in the collection is the great ciaccona
for two tenors, Zefiro torna e di
soavi accenti, whose text is a sonnet
modelled on the Petrarch sonnet already
set by Monteverdi in the 6th
book of Madrigals. The majority of the
piece uses repetitions of the same ground
bass. Here it is sung by the two sopranos
whose virtues are mainly dramatic. They
deliver the text well and give strong
performances but their lines need more
shape, they have a tendency to bulge,
and the passagework is smudgy.
The other duet, Armato
il Cor is common to this disc and
to the Consort of Musicke’s disc. Where
the tenors of the Consort give us stunning
virtuosity combined with a stylish performance
full of controlled passion, the two
women here give a performance which
is richer, bigger boned. Though not
musically perfect, there are more words
and more passion and with their bigger
voices this version is altogether punchier.
The disc concludes
with a powerful performance from Custer
of Ottavia’s lament from L’Incoronazione
di Poppea. This is a piece that
can take Custer’s full-blooded drama,
but many will prefer a smaller-scale,
subtler performance.
Again, the performances
on this disc are not ideal ones, but
they have the virtues of a strongly
delivered text and attention to the
drama of the pieces.
For the final disc
in the set, Roberto Gini and Ensemble
Concerto reappear with three works.
Lamento della Ninfa, Il Combatimento
di Tancredi et Clorinda and Il
Ballo delle Ingrate. They are from
the 8th Book of Madrigals,
which was published in Venice in 1638,
though Il Combatimento was written
for private performance in 1624 or 1625
and Il Ballo delle Ingrate was
written for performance in 1608. These
are dramatic works so they respond very
well to the drama of Ensemble Concerto’s
performances. I can imagine more sophisticated
Ninfas than Cettine Cadelo but her performance
is vivid and richly textured.
The bulk of the work
in Il Combatimento di Tancredi et
Clorinda is done by the narrator.
Here the tenor (either Carlo Gaifa or
Vincenzo Manno) sings in an expressive
but very full voiced manner. The result
is rather more deliberate than we are
used to, but there is no doubting the
dramatic force together with his strong
projection of the words. Cettina Cadelo
makes an appealing Clorinda and the
tenor singing Tancredi is personable
without being as vivid as the narrator.
In Il Ballo delle
Ingrate Alessandra Ruffini and Claudia
Nicole Bandera make an appealing Amore
and Venere without being quite as vivid
as some of the singers on these discs.
Unfortunately Giovanni Faverio has a
characterful gravelly voice which is
not quite up to the demands of the extended
tessitura of Plutone and his passagework
leaves something to be desired. I found
this performance a little disappointing,
lacking the textual projection of some
of the other performances and there
are moments where the tuning of the
Otto Anime Ingrate is a little questionable.
Those looking for ideal
performances of Monteverdi’s madrigals
would be well advised to consider the
complete sets performed by the Consort
of Musicke or Concerto Italiano. But
whilst the performances in this set
are not always ideal, they are never
less than interesting. Brilliant have
provided a varied mix of Monteverdi’s
madrigal works in a microcosm of recent
performance styles. The result makes
both a fascinating introduction to Monteverdi’s
madrigals and an interesting addition
to the library shelves for those who
already have these works. As usual with
Brilliant the discs come with the Italian
texts of the madrigals but no translations.
Robert Hugill
Consort of Musicke: (Emma Kirkby (soprano),
Evelyn Tubb (soprano), Mary Nichols (alto),
Andrew King (tenor), Joseph Cornwell (tenor),
Simon Grant (bass), Gabriele Micheli (organ))
(1)