This is a welcome re-release of a disc which in 1998 offered several
‘firsts’. It was the first disc released by the Alpha Classics label and it
was also the first recording by the newly founded Le Poème Harmonique, an
ensemble established by Vincent Dumestre with the ambition to ‘discover and
introduce the public to so-called minor repertories’ in order that we might
gain a more holistic understanding of the musical achievements of the
seventeenth century, beyond the work of acknowledged ‘masters’ such as
Monteverdi and Cavalli.
I suspect, too, that it was also the first disc dedicated solely, or at
least predominantly, to the music of Bellerofonte Castaldi, the Modenese
‘Renaissance man’ – composer, lutenist, guitarist, singer, poet, engraver,
artist and adventurer, satirist and swordsman – whose biography rivals that
of his near contemporary Carlo Gesualdo, for colourful incident and
controversy. The outspoken Castaldi’s polemical and satirical writings saw
him incarcerated numerous times; a plot to avenge the assassination of his
brother left him maimed by a bullet wound to his left foot. Other
collections have followed Le Poème Harmonique’s ground-breaking original,
including
Battaglia d'amore (2007, Toccata Classics) and
Ferita d'Amore (2010, Arcana).
Last October, I enjoyed Le Poème Harmonique’s programme of music by Luis
de Briceño at the
Wigmore Hall which was
informed by Dumestre’s characteristically resourceful and insightful
musicological detective work. The discovery of Bellorofonte Castaldi’s music
was – Dumestre recounts, in a liner article – a happy accident, resulting
from a search for new repertory for the theorbo which led him to the
Capricci a due stromenti for ‘tiorba and tiorbino’ (a little octave
theorbo which Castaldi referred to as ‘mia invenzion[e] novella’). This was
published in Venice in the early 1620s and is one of only three extant
sources of the composer’s music, the others being the
Primo Mazzetto di
Fiori musicalmente colti dal Giardino Bellarofonteo and the Modena
manuscript which was compiled sometime between 1632 and 1671 (most likely
after Castaldi's death in 1649) and contains thirteen of Castaldi’s
songs.
The instrumental items on this disc reveal Castaldi to be familiar with
the variety of musical styles and languages current in the Italy of his day.
The recorded sound is very ‘live’, and the brief
Arpeggiata a mio
modo surges with restless energy and power. Dumestre’s articulation is
crisp and expressive: who knew that a ‘mere’ arpeggio could express so many
emotions?
Castaldi’s manuscripts contain few instructions for the performer and
Dumestre indulges his interpretative independence with skill and
intelligence.
Follia begins like a rhetorical fantasia but soon
acquires a compelling, foot-tapping pulse; Joël Grare’s percussive beat
lures the listener, as the music sways between rhythmic elation and melodic
elaboration. In contrast, the
Mascherina canzone is notable for the
vertical expanse of its sound world, within which the various instrumental
voices engage in fluent imitation. A similar dynamism is generated by the
fluctuating time signatures of the
Quagliotta canzone.
The clarity and vibrancy of the
Capriccio detto bischizzoso is
typical of these performances, as is the suave flexibility of the dance
rhythms.
Cecchina corrente is a robust romp – the pulsating snap
and click of finger on string is audible – but a percussive thud adds a
sombre note to the
Sadoletta corrente.
Elsewhere, there is stylish refinement. The initial bucolic robustness of
the
Grilla gagliarda is gradually alleviated by grace and
sentiment, while the duet between high and low voices in the
Capriccio
detto svegliatoio is characterised by increasingly decorative detail,
concluding with a lovely, gentle
tierce de Picardie.
Tasteggio
soave – sonata prima is one of the disc’s highlights: after startling
introductory dissonances, the music is infused by warmth leading to an
improvisatory episode by Dumestre of stunning virtuosity and eloquence,
before the listener is seduced into a triple-time dance.
The vocal items are sung with directness and thoughtful characterisation
by soprano Guilemette Laurens. In
Dolce miei matiri, the treble
viol adds a plaintive intensity as it dialogues with the vocal line and the
percussion further darkens the mood. Here, and in
Steffania
persuasiva, Laurens produces a lovely pure sound and dramatizes the
text, making much of the words … which leads to my only ‘complaint’ about
this recording: why does the liner booklet not include texts and
translations, particularly as Dumestre notes that Castaldi was both a poet
and a musician?
Alongside these strophic, ‘story-telling’ songs, there are more theatrical
vocal items. As Brian Wilson pointed out in his
Autumn Retrospective 2016, the richer vocal numbers are
‘reminiscent of the early operas of Caccini, Peri and Monteverdi’, and this
is certainly true of
Echo notturno which moves effortlessly between
the contemplative, the rhetorical and the dramatic. Laurens, withdrawing to
a veiled
pianissimo, is her own ‘echo’. She employs no vibrato and
her tone is appealing. But, though unaffected in style, the performance is
not lacking in technical accomplishment: ornamental flourishes are precisely
defined, there is a winning brightness to the sound as the vocal line rises,
and the tender inconclusiveness of the final cadence is deeply
expressive.
Chi vidde più lieto e felice di me? bristles with a folky
forthrightness as Laurens peppers the sung line with spoken text, sighs,
exclamations and exasperations. The greatest theatricality is saved for
last: Laurens and the players of Le Poème Harmonique wring every expressive
drop from the dissonances, contrasts and harmonic wanderings of
La
lettera d’heleazaria heb. A tito vespasiano. As the song unfolds, a
lyrical vocal line over a repeating bass figure soothes, before urgent
recitative with an elaborate theorbo accompaniment once again injects drama.
Monteverdi would surely have been proud to have penned music of such
declamatory power.
Claire Seymour
Track Listing1. Arpeggiata a mio
modo [1:55]
2. Echo notturno
[5:14]
3. Francese lamentevole
[3:42]
4. Follia [4:35]
5. Mascherina canzone [4:45]
6. Dolci miei martiri [5:28]
7. Capriccio detto canzone [4:11]
8. Quagliotta canzone [2:58]
9. Chi vidde più lieto e felice di me? [3:54]
10. Tasteggio soave – sonata prima [4:40]
11. Grilla gagliarda [1:58]
12. Capriccio detto svegliatoio [2:58]
13. Capriccio detto hermaphrodite [2:11]
14. Steffania persuasive [3:21]
15. Cecchina corrente – sadoletta corrente [1:59]
16. La lettera d’heleazaria heb. A tito vespasiano [10:35]
