Classical Music

Classical Music

‘Our main purpose for this recording,’ writes Masaaki Suzuki, ‘was to perform all the music contained in the collection that Monteverdi published in 1610.’ So he begins with the Missa In illo tempore, a superb example of old-style, elaborate polyphony; moves through the Vespers themselves, following the original order of the pieces and interpolating nothing; then, after the lavish Magnificat a 7, he ends with the more modest Magnificat a 6, which Monteverdi appended as an alternative.

This straightforward approach seems almost radical given the current glut of more fanciful versions, in which conductors reshuffle the Vespers, pepper them with antiphons and works by other composers and variously ‘adapt’ them to fit specific liturgical occasions. Such diverse interpretations make the choice of a benchmark recording highly subjective. Gardiner (dramatic, on Archiv) and Parrott (intimate and liturgically correct, on Virgin Veritas) offer fine, contrasting views, and several other versions (Christie, Garrido, Junghänel, Pickett) are well worth exploring.

This new set is consistently engaging. Unlike his rivals, Suzuki uses a high pitch of A=465Hz (common in Monteverdi’s Italy), but follows current thinking in transposing certain pieces down a fourth (the Missa, the Magnificats, ‘Lauda Jerusalem’). Performances throughout are expressive, sharply focused, intensely committed. Though he dispenses with liturgical trappings, Suzuki, aided by a spacious ‘churchy’ acoustic, certainly brings out the ritualistic and devotional character of the music, from the ornate orchestral splendour of the ‘Sonata sopra Sancta Maria’ to the tender vocal passions of ‘Pulchra es’ and ‘Duo Seraphim’. Excellent.

-- Graham Lock, BBC Music Magazine

Monteverdi's Ninth Book of Madrigals, published posthumously, and the 1632 Scherzi musicali ('Musical Jokes') are thematically linked by the recurring theme of war for the sake of love. Prefaced with a Sinfonia by Biagio Marini and featuring one of Monteverdi's towering masterpieces, Zefiro torna, the Ninth Book comprises the few remaining late madrigals, a number of canzonette, as well as works with the same titles and verses from the earlier Eighth Book, here performed in completely different musical settings. Recorded complete, and in historically informed fashion, this is the final volume in the series. Italian early music ensemble Delitiae Musicae was established in 1992. The ensemble has been making recordings for over 20 years, and significant projects include Verdelot's Missa Philomena praevia, and four widely acclaimed albums dedicated to masses of Palestrina that were awarded the Choc du disque and the 9 de Repertoire in France.

Monteverdi: Madrigals, Book 5

Monteverdi’s seminal first opera L’Orfeo, tells the dramatic story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses of the descent of Orfeo (Georg Nigl) into the underworld to recover his beloved wife Euridice (Roberta Invernizzi), seen here in a production for La Scala, based on a painting by Titian and directed by Robert Wilson. David Alden’s visually sumptuous production of L’incoronazione di Poppea, with its suggestions of a giant game of chess, puts the opera’s potent blend of sex and politics in a context that sets ancient against modern – just as the action juxtaposes scurrilous comedy and stark drama. Both are filmed in High Definition and recorded in true SS. "Robert Wilson meets Monteverdi with successful results." (The Opera Critic) "Beautifully flimed in Milan, this DVD shows how well Wilson's minimalist productions can take to the small screen." (Gramophone) "The drama comes from Alessandrini's edition and the bite and brilliance of the La Scala orchestra, and Concerto Italiano's inventive continuo section" (International Record Review) "Persson is a superb Poppea who can really act with her voice" (BBC Music Magazine)

14 distinct titles introduce this exciting new series uniting the finest Alpha and ZZT Baroque recordings. Discover - or rediscover - universally known works as well as world premiere recordings of rarities. Newly conducted artist interviews allow for fresh perspectives on their recordings. All releases, digipak in format with trilingual booklets, feature photographs by great (Magnum Cooperative) contemporary artists adorning the covers and a strong 'queen of colors' scheme, bringing to mind gods, kings, warriors, the devil, life, violence and death... Themes omnipresent in Baroque art!

In 1607, Claudio Monteverdi premiered his Orfeo for the Carnival opening in the Court Theatre of Duke Vincenzo I of Gonzaga in Mantua. For the first time in the history of music, real characters are brought to life with deeply moving human feelings: with this exceptional dramatic power, modern opera is born. Stephane Fuget, a great specialist in this repertoire and it's historical instrumentalisation, after Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria, has brought together some of the finest vocal and instrumental virtuosos for this new Orfeo: he has entrusted the eponymous role to the splendid and sensitive Julian Pregardien, to sing all the magnificence of the first true hero in the history of opera.

MONTEVERDI: MADRIGALS, BOOKS 5

Presenting books 3 and 4 of Monteverdi’s madrigals, this release is the latest installment of the Complete Madrigals cycle by Le Nuove Musiche.; These works move from a Renaissance style to a more emotional and expressive way of setting the texts. This causes the works on this album to be much more moving and impactful.; Le Nuove Musiche is led by conductor Krijn Koetsveld, and is made up of the elite of Dutch Early Music vocalists. The first installment in this edition, Books 5 and 6, received a five star rating in the French Diapason.

Le Nuove Musiche, led by acclaimed director Krijn Koetsveld, continue with their exceptional series of Claudio Monteverdi's complete madrigals. This time they turn their attention to Book VIII, the intriguingly entitled Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi (Madrigals of Love and War), published four years after Monteverdi's death. These two contrasting themes divide the book into two halves; first war, then love. There's more corssover than might be expected: the first half of warlike madrigals ends with the tragic Il combattiment odi Tancredi e Clorinda, based on Torquato Tasso's poem which sees Tancredi fighting a disguised Clorida, fatally injuring her before realizing that it is a fair maiden rather than a male foe. Despite nearing the end of his life, Monteverdi still demonstrates his knack for innovation, experimenting freely with the gentre of the madrigal in the new context of the basso continuo. Le Nuove Musiche's approach to Monteverdi is an innovative one: to bring the past into the present, keeping alive the questions of the Renaissance that still permeate oru musical landscape today, while seeking to maintain the highest standards of performance authenticity. Their release of Books V & VI garnered excellent reviews, including five stars in the French magazine Diapason.

With this recording the acclaimed ensemble Le Nuove Musiche, led by director Krijn Koetsveld, have come full circle and at last completed their monumental undertaking of a complete cycle of Claudio Monteverdi's books of madrigals. In bringing this endeavour to a close the group have returned to their starting point, recording a fresh take of perhaps the most famous set, Monteverdi's groundbreaking Books V & VI, previously released by Le Nuove Musiche one decade ago at the start of this musical journey. With these two books of madrigals Monteverdi unequivocally made his forward-thinking position clear in the heated debate over musical aesthetics that had been raging fiercely in Florentine artistic circles. Defying his critics, he distanced himself from conservative practices by declaring his own methods a 'second practice', the seconda prattica. He abandoned the confines of a single mode, freely adding piquant dissonance to underpin emotionally charged words in the text, thus heightening the drama. He also began exploiting the basso continuo as an independent harmonic foundation for melody - the dawn of monody, a solo-and-accompaniment style that would surpass polyphony as the basis for the music of so many later generations of composers. Le Nuove Musiche's approach to Monteverdi is both dedicated and informed. They bring the past into the present, considering questions that were asked in the Renaissance and are still relevant in our present musical landscape, thereby making Early Music as new today as any other, while maintaining the highest standards of performance authenticity.

The genre “canzonette” is the light version of the madrigal: using only 3 voices it is playful and popular in character, based on secular poems in a strophic form of three or four verses with ritornello. Monteverdi composed his “Canzonette a tre voci” when he was seventeen years old, in order to gain recognition with a wider audience, and they have proven to be a perfect preparation for the more serious and complex works he later embarked upon such as the madrigals and the operas. These delightful works are performed with the right light hearted mood and dramatic impact by Armoniosoincanto, conducted by Franco Radicchia, using a rich continuo ensemble consisting of flutes, viola da braccia, viola da gamba, theorbo, baroque guitar and harpsichord.

Le Nuove Musiche, a vibrant young ensemble from the Netherlands, specializes in music from the first half of the 17th century. While seeking to maintain authentic performance standards, the ensemble brings the music very much into the present, arguing that artistic questions of the past still permeate the musical landscape today. Featuring a captivating group of solo singers, who between them have performed with the Amsterdam Baroque Choir and The Bach Choir & Orchestra of The Netherlands, the ensemble is headed by Krijn Koetsveld, leader and harpsichordist, who has previously collaborated with the Groot Omroepkoor and the prestigious Netherlands Chamber Choir. This is the second of a planned release of Claudio Monteverdi's complete madrigals. The fifth and sixth book - already released on Brilliant Classics as 93799 - were the first to break with tradition and herald 'la seconda pratica', the era of the basso continuo. From then on, the publication of Monteverdi's innovative settings were eagerly awaited, as they set the stage for more instrumental ritornellos, a newly important basso continuo and the addition of ornamentation around the bass and vocal parts. The book finishes with a ballo, Tirsi e Clori, a love duet with a five-part accompaniment, highly elaborate, with a chatty Tirsi contrasting with a sweet and melodic Clori. When the two singers come together with the rest of the ensemble, the listener is treated to the pinnacle of the madrigal era. This new installment of the Monteverdi Complete Madrigals contains the complete Book VII, on two CD's. Monteverdi is the Master of the Madrigal, the unaccompanied vocal composition for up to 5 voices, on secular texts. Monteverdi developed the Renaissance form of a static, strictly polyphonic setting into a dramatic work in which the expression of feeling is prominent, paving the way for the Baroque Monody, the setting of a solo melody to the accompaniment of the other voices. The range of sentiments, the boldness of harmony and counterpoint and the dramatic impact of these works mark Monteverdi as one of the first geniuses of Western Music. In the 7th Book Monteverdi breaks away from the traditional Madrigal. The set contains vocal duets with more instrumental ritornellos in concertante style, a complex worked-out bass and highly developed ornamentation of the vocal lines. The vocal ensemble Le Nuove Musiche consists of the elite of Dutch Early Music vocalists, led by eminent conductor and scholar Krijn Koetsveld. Their first Monteverdi recording, the Books 5 & 6 (BC93799) received excellent reviews in the international press, among which a "5 star" in the French Diapason. The extensive booklet notes include texts on the works as well as the complete sung texts in Italian and English.

Classical Music