Without doubt, Monteverdi was the greatest of the early baroque European composers. He revolutionized the music of the theatre and the church with his dramatic, imaginative use of voices and instruments, and with his daring harmonies and rhythms. Next to his Vespers of 1610, the Selva morale e spirituale of 1641 is his most significant and virtuosic collection of sacred music. Over the next few years, The Sixteen will record the complete publication with a variety of forces for CORO.

“The Sixteen under Harry Christophers respond with breathtaking assurance.” — Gramophone

Includes work(s) by Claudio Monteverdi. Ensemble: Concerto Ensemble. Conductor: Roberto Gini.

Monteverdi’s sacred vocal compositions introduced the expression of powerful and personal emotions to the world of church music. While it took him a number of years to find fulfillment in his work, Monteverdi was a revered composer within his lifetime and his music is regarded as revolutionary, marking the change from the Renaissance style to that of the Baroque. This album includes some of the finest works from Monteverdi’s years as director of music at St Mark’s in Venice, published posthumously in 1650 as the ‘Messa a quattro voci et salmi.’ “Pure- and vintage- Monteverdi, starting with a Dixit Dominus and ending, grandly with a version of Beatus Vir, using material we know from the familiar one. Ideal consort singing.” (The Sunday Times) “As always with The Sixteen, we get superb tuning, balanced ensemble work and a lively pace.” (BBC Music Magazine)

Le Nuove Musiche, led by acclaimed director Krijn Koetsveld, continue with their exceptional series of Claudio Monteverdi’s complete madrigals. Here, they look back to the very beginning of Monteverdi's works, when the young composer was still under the influence of his teacher Marc'Antonio Ingegneri. At this time, the madrigal was already a popular art form, one that Monteverdi was beginning to add his name to, before – as we know – he would go on to radically extend it with the introduction of the seconda prattica. These two books show that Monteverdi was an assured and dexterous composer in the established genre. He could follow the conventions of madrigal-writing – concentrating on the recitation of the text, adding in affects by altering the melody, rhythm and harmony – with skill and originality. Although he had to compete with other books already on the market, he was confident and ambitious – he dedicated his books to prominent patrons, and finally gained a royal appointment in Mantua shortly after the second book of madrigals was published. 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 our 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. The first two books of Madrigals by Monteverdi date from the period in which he lived and worked in his native town Cremona. They are sublime examples of the Prima Prattica, in which Recitation of the text came first, and affects were made audible by melody, rhythm, and by playing with repetitions, strengths and harmony. In the Second Book we encounter lovely word painting and evocation of images and moods. This is the third instalment of the complete recording of Monteverdi’s Madrigals by Le Nuove Musiche.

Listen to the Naxos Podcast to learn more about this release

The Eighth Book of Madrigals, subdivided into a substantial series of vocal and instrumental partbooks, contains some of Monteverdi's greatest music. In this sumptuous collection the material is carefully arranged by category into madrigals of war, love and those for the stage, with a wide array of human passions and compositional styles. This is the first recording to present Book Eight in its original, uncut form, also incorporating instrumental sinfonias and dances by Biagio Marini to round off Monteverdi's design. In keeping with seventeenth-century practice, the madrigals are performed entirely by male voices, including a boy soprano in the role of Cupid.

-----

REVIEWS:

The quality of the performances is extremely high. Technical prowess is always in the service of the music, and Marco Longhini is not averse to pushing his all-male ensemble to extremes of slow or fast tempos or to special vocal effects. Another strength of this excellent interpretation is the size and scope of the instrumental forces. There are 9 players in the continuo group, a further 9 in a mostly string ensemble (including 2 recorders), and a viola da gamba quartet. This gives Marco Longhini a very wide palette to draw on for dramatic power, theatrical variety, and evocative effect.

– American Record Guide

As Longhini has pointed out in previous releases, the instruments to be used is largely left to the performers, and in the composer’s day would probably have depended on those available. In this series of discs he has opted for a ‘middle-of-the-road’ approach, so as not to become ornate, yet providing more that an obliging backdrop. In the vocal group there are, of course, no female voices in music of that period, so that much rests on the shoulders of the outstanding countertenor, Alessandro Carmignani. Yet again I will heap praise on the sonorous bass voice of Walter Testolin, his deep voice is an earthy delight. Solos permeate all of the madrigals, and when numerous voices are used, the Delitiae’s blend is pure joy. Longhini's approach throughout this series has that feel of dedication and authenticity, the music continually intriguing, immediately likeable, and, in every way, it has been a wonderful experience with this as its crowning glory. The engineers have once again played their part in the clarity of texture they have created. It is terribly sad that it is coming to an end, but there remains just one more book, the unfinished Ninth, that was published after the composers death.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

MONTEVERDI Madrigals, Book 7 • Marco Longhini, dir; Delitiae Musicae • NAXOS 8.555314 (3 CDs: 162:45 Text and Translation)


Following the first six books of madrigals (30:2, 31: 2), with the rest promised in due course, Longhini’s new Book 7 was recorded in a single week using his new critical edition, the first since Malapiero’s in 1932. This is only the fourth complete recorded set of the collection that was published in 1619 as “Concerto,” preceded by Raymond Leppard issued in 1977 (3:2), Roberto Gini in 1989 (14: 1), and Claudio Cavina in 1998 (26:4). While Leppard was working on his recordings, Michel Corboz made eight LPs of madrigals drawn from all the books, including 17 of Book 7’s 29 pieces. It is remarkable that the timings of the four sets have lengthened with each new version, though the two most nearly alike (Gini and Cavina) are less than a minute apart overall. For Longhini, this is not unexpected, for the tempos in all of his previous discs have been longer than most of the alternatives.


Book 7 was the last Leppard set to appear on Philips, and the LPs were not even issued in England, perhaps because the previous sets had been received less than enthusiastically. His six complete books, recorded for Philips from 1969 to 1975, were issued in a box of eight CDs only in 1998, although in the first year of the CD EMI had reissued the much older recordings that he had made for them. There is a connection between the other two sets, for Cavina had been a member of Gini’s group (he then joined Rinaldo Alessandrini’s group, which has still not recorded Book 7, before forming his own ensemble).


Book 7 was a remarkable advance over Monteverdi’s first six books, which were all set for five voices. The title page for this book made clear the break by specifying madrigals for one, two, three, four, and six voices together with other kinds of sung works. Longhini’s notes are illuminating, for he has learned much in preparing his own edition from the 1619 edition and four reprints, as well as from the original published texts of the poems. He cites Claudio Gallico’s statement that the pieces are arranged in a “carefully calculated and finely balanced” way, setting it against Cavina’s reordering of the pieces in his recording (the only one of the four to do so). He explains in detail the errors that he has corrected not only in Malapiero’s edition but also in the original.


Longhini’s ensemble consists of seven male voices (two countertenors on the top lines) with 15 players. Each track specifies the participants. He defends the use of a countertenor in “Lettera amorosa,” more often (but by no means always) sung by a woman, for the poet himself specified that the letter is being read by the impatient writer, not the recipient. Apart from what his group sings is the matter of how the group sings. As noted in previous reviews, Longhini’s tempos reflect a preference for expression and harmonic subtlety over speed and agility. His all-male ensemble requires downward transposition. His use of instruments, optional in most of the earlier works, is no longer an issue now in works that specify them, even calling for two flutes in “A quest’olmo.” A total timing more than 15 percent slower than the other two modern sets (even greater with respect to Leppard) seems enormous, but it is not. To be sure, “A quest’olmo” is the only piece that is not the slowest of the four versions, but only three or four pieces are notably slower than the competition. This is simply a more relaxed interpretation, made more obvious only because it spills over to a third disc.


The singers are remarkably fine, and the new edition deserves close attention. His current competition, of course, is Cavina, who doubtless defends the contrast that he provides by choosing a different order for the selections. He also has a splendid group of singers and a deluxe presentation, if slightly more expensive. There are clear differences between the interpretations of Cavina and Longhini, but each is worth a serious hearing.


FANFARE: J. F. Weber

All tracks have been digitally mastered using 24-bit technology.
Includes madrigal(s) by Claudio Monteverdi. Ensemble: Delitiae Musicae. Conductor: Marco Longhini.

Monteverdi: Madrigals, Book 4

In some respects, Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607) is to the history of Italian opera what Dante's Divine Comedy is to the history of Italian literature: a masterpiece that stands at the very beginning of the journey. With Orfeo and the operas that followed it, Monteverdi had the substantial merit of immediately demonstrating the infinite possibilities of this new genre, which would leave an imprint on three centuries of European culture. In the present edition the French conductor Jean-Claude Malgoire is at the head of a cast of Baroque opera specialists. Subtitled in 7 languages.

MONTEVERDI L’Orfeo • William Christie, cond; Dietrich Henschel ( Orfeo ); Maria Grazia Schiavo ( La Musica, Euridice, Proserpina ); Les Arts Florissants; Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse • DYNAMIC 33598 (DVD: 113: 00) Live: Madrid 5/19/2008


This is the third L’Orfeo I’ve seen on DVD, and it’s a real success. In style it fits among the theatrical productions that use over 20 singers and over 20 players, even adding some supernumeraries to fill the stage. Yet as a performance it should stand comparison with the intimate versions that we have heard on CD recently, since Pier Luigi Pizzi, the stage director who also designed the sets and costumes, replicated the venue of the first production in the Mantua residence. This may suggest that adhering to the minimal personnel of the alternative interpretation (a dozen singers and a dozen players, more or less) is not really necessary, or simply that Pizzi imagines a pretty big palace. But he imagines well, for this is the best stage set, the best costumes, the best lighting, and the best camerawork of the three versions I’ve seen. It is simply the best theatrical production of an opera that I’ve ever seen on DVD (not that I’ve seen very many). All three were made in live performances (the Harnoncourt video of 1979 was pantomimed in a studio 10 months after the performance was recorded), but the audience manifests itself only twice at the ends of the two halves. Christie’s was a single performance of May 19, 2008, at the Teatro Real in Madrid, while Jean Claude Malgoire’s was made at Tourcoing in October 2004 (also for Dynamic) and Stephen Stubbs’s was made in Amsterdam in July 1997 for Opus Arte.


Henschel is a fine Orfeo, a good actor as well as singer, but it is interesting that he has made a career not in early music but in contemporary opera. Schiavo, a mesmerizing stage presence, outdoes herself in adding not just La Musica but also Proserpina to her main role. At least seven previous conductors allowed Euridice to double as La Musica, and Rinaldo Alessandrini assigned Proserpina to his Euridice, but no other singer has combined all three roles. This is Pizzi’s way of identifying Pluto’s wife with Orfeo’s beloved. Christie directs from the keyboards, seeing his role as comparable to the pianist for a Schubert Lied. There is not a weak member of the supporting cast, and Christie’s players, supplemented by the brass from Toulouse, maintain their longstanding reputation. The Madrid production was associated with La Fenice as well. This can replace any previous video of the work that you may have, for it is absolutely superb.


FANFARE: J. F. Weber
-----------------------------------------

Recorded: Teatro Real, Madrid, May 2008
NTSC All Region; 16:9; Dolby Digital 5.1/LPCM 2.0; Approx. 113 mins.
Subtitled in French, Italian, English, German & Spanish

Also available on Blu-ray

Monteverdi’s seminal first opera 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), who has died from a snake bite. In a new production for La Scala, based on a painting by Titian and directed by Robert Wilson, the opera receives a powerful and inspiring performance from a fine cast, the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala and Concerto Italiano under the much-admired Italian early music specialist, Rinaldo Alessandrini.

Claudio Monteverdi
L'ORFEO

Orfeo – Georg Nigl
Euridice / Eco – Roberta Invernizzi
Messaggera / Speranza – Sara Mingardo
Caronte – Luigi De Donato
Proserpina – Raffaella Milanesi
Plutone – Giovanni Battista Parodi
Apollo – Furio Zanasi

Concerto Italiano
Milan La Scala Orchestra
Rinaldo Alessandrini, conductor

Robert Wilson, stage director
Jacques Reynaud, costume designer
A J Weissbard, lighting designer
Recorded live at La Teatro alla Scala, 21 and 23 December 2009.
Bonus:
- Cast gallery
- Illustrated Synopsis

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 Anamorphic
Sound format: PCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian
Running time: 116 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD



MONTEVERDI L’Orfeo • Rinaldo Alessandrini, cond; Georg Nigl ( Orfeo ); Roberta Invernizzi ( Euridice/Musica/Eco ); Sara Mingardo ( Messagerra/Speranza ); Luigi de Donato ( Caronte ); Raffaelaa Milanesi ( Proserpina ); Giovanni Battista Parodi ( Plutone ); Furio Zanasi ( Apollo ); Nicola Strada (dancer); La Scala O & Ch • OPUS ARTE OA BD7080D (Blu-ray: 121:35) Live: La Scala 9/21, 23/2009


This La Scala production of what the booklet notes rightly call “the first great opera” seems in most respects an attempt to evoke the work’s 1607 premiere, in terms of music and staging. According to Tim Carter’s fine notes, L’Orfeo was apparently meant to be performed by a small cast of singers, doubling roles and participating in the choral numbers. The pit orchestra, although it featured cornets, trombones, other wind instruments, and a large continuo contingent, employed a limited string ensemble, and so it goes here. Of course, we can’t know what the original staging was really like, but even in this department La Scala is nodding toward the work’s origins, with the singers dressed in costumes of Monteverdi’s time (rather than the garb of ancient Greece), and stage director (and set and lighting director) Robert Wilson creating a ceremonial, even static atmosphere. Frankly, this looks exactly like a typical Wilson production rather than some evocation of the early 17th-century stage. Wilson, here and in the past, has been more interested in tableaux and the purity of motion than in character- or plot-motivated action. This works reasonably well initially, but the second half of L’Orfeo devolves into face-the-audience, stand-and-deliver tedium, each character in physical isolation from the others. There may be some psychological justification for this, but the concept is far more effective in the abstract than in practice. One other detail that may strike contemporary viewers as odd: With the heavy, pale greasepaint on their faces, Orfeo and his shepherd friends from a distance all look distractingly like the android Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation.


Musically, though, this production can hardly be faulted. Start with the opening Toccata; conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini draws a real snarl from the orchestra, making the music sound primitive and ritualistic, more ancient Greek than Italian Baroque. Later, his ritornelli can be quite fast, but they’re treated as transitions between vocal segments; nobody is trying to dance to them. (There is one dancer on stage, strutting about in feathers and a Venetian bird mask, but his purpose beyond linking to the art and culture of Monteverdi’s time is inscrutable.)


German baritone Georg Nigl takes the title role, with only a few ardent outbursts interrupting his sweet, disconsolate, and quite lovely singing. He is well partnered by Roberta Invernizzi and Sara Mingardo in their multiple roles, and by the secondary vocalists. The singing is, for the most part, period-appropriate but never dry.


The DTS-HD 5.1 audio track brings clarity, tonal beauty, and precise imaging to the orchestra, and serves the singers well, too, although with little sense of depth. Video director Emanuele Garofalo does a good job of offering enough well-chosen shots to overcome stage director Wilson’s stasis without negating Wilson’s intentions. The Blu-ray picture quality is fine, maintaining clarity in a production that, in terms of color, is intentionally drab. Note that the disc’s total time includes seven minutes of curtain calls and end credits; there’s also a four-minute illustrated synopsis, but aside from cast information, no other extra features.


FANFARE: James Reel


Claudio Monteverdi
L'ORFEO

Orfeo – Georg Nigl
Euridice / Eco – Roberta Invernizzi
Messaggera / Speranza – Sara Mingardo
Caronte – Luigi De Donato
Proserpina – Raffaella Milanesi
Plutone – Giovanni Battista Parodi
Apollo – Furio Zanasi

Concerto Italiano
Milan La Scala Orchestra
Rinaldo Alessandrini, conductor

Robert Wilson, stage director
Jacques Reynaud, costume designer
A J Weissbard, lighting designer
Recorded live at La Teatro alla Scala, 21 and 23 December 2009.
Bonus:
- Cast gallery
- Illustrated Synopsis

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian
Running time: 116 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray)

"Simply the most compelling account of L'Orfeo yet produced...John Mark Ainsley is simply superb as Orfeo..." -- BBC Music Magazine

Claudio Monteverdi
L’ORFEO

Orfeo – John Mark Ainsley
Euridice – Juanita Lascarro
La Messagiera – Brigitte Balleys
Apollo / Pastore II – Russell Smythe
La Musica – David Cordier
La Speranza – Michael Chance
Caronte – Mario Luperi
Proserpina – Bernarda Fink
Plutone / Pastore IV – Dean Robinson
Pastore I / Eco – Jean-Paul Fouchécourt
Pastore III – Douglas Nasrawi
Ninfa – Suzie LeBlanc

Tragicomedia
Concerto Palatino
Stephen Stubbs, conductor

Pierre Audi, stage director
Michael Simon, set designer
Jorge Jara, costume designer
Jean Kalman, lighting designer

Recorded live at Het Muziektheater Amsterdam, July 1997

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch
Running time: 140 mins
No. of DVDs: 2

Also available on Blu-ray

Claudio Monteverdi
L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA

Poppea – Miah Persson
Nerone – Sarah Connolly
Ottone – Jordi Domènech
Seneca – Franz-Josef Selig
Ottavia – Maite Beaumont
Drusilla – Ruth Rosique
Arnalta / Ottavia’s Nurse – Dominique Visse
Lucan – Guy de Mey
Valletto – William Berger
Damigella / Virtue – Judith van Wanroij
Liberto – Francisco Vas
Lictor – Josep Miquel Ramón
Fortune / Pallas Athene / Venus – Marisa Martins
Cupid – Olatz Saitua Iribar
Mercury – Josep Miquel Ramón
Praetorian soldiers – Guy de Mey / Francisco Vas

Baroque Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu
Harry Bicket, conductor

David Alden, stage director
Paul Steinberg, set designer
Buki Shiff, costume designer
Pat Collins, lighting designer

Recorded live at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, February 2009

Bonus:
- Illustrated Synopsis
- Cast Gallery

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: Dolby Digital 2.0 & 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Catalan
Running time: 183 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

R E V I E W:

"It is interesting that in the recent history of opera, works from the 17th and 18th centuries have become familiar fare, and it is difficult to believe that this is the first time that L' Incoronazione di Poppea has been presented at the Liceu, 366 years after its premiere in Venice.

For this, its first production of a Monteverdi opera, the Liceu has chosen one of the most interesting stage directors of the present day, particularly in the baroque repertoire. I am referring to David Alden, whose works were presented so frequently in Munich during the time of Sir Peter Jonas.

This production is not a new work, since it was premiered in Cardiff in 1997, has been revived on numerous occasions in Munich and has also been seen at the Palais Garnier in Paris. David Alden knows how to play with the sensuality and the humour of the opera, and directs actors magnificently. With imagination, spectacular lighting and careful direction, Alden was able to present Poppea’s scenes with an outstanding sensuality and eroticism. The costumes are very bright and colourful, emphasizing the figure of Poppea, making her into a real movie star. The production could have seemed iconoclastic, but in my opinion was not.

The magnificent libretto of Gian Francesco Busenello (combined with the music of Monteverdi) gives us several comic roles (the Nurse, Arnalta, Drusilla, Valletto and the Damigella) and Alden emphasises the humour of all of them. More debatable is Alden’s interpretation of the three Goddesses, especially Amor, as belonging to the comic cast. However, in other ways Alden is very respectful towards the music and there is no sign of provocation in his treatment of the great arias for Ottavia nor in the duets of Poppea and Nero.

Harry Bicket was in charge of the musical direction. He is a specialist in this type of music and he gave a good performance, particularly in the more intimate passages. He gave very good support to the singers, although the intensity was not always at the same level, and lacked a little spark in the comic pages. The reduced Liceu’s Baroque Orchestra, gave a good performance under his direction. The large cast demanded by this opera worked very well, without low points and with some extraordinary contributions.

It is difficult to imagine a more credible and convincing Poppea than the Swedish soprano Miah Persson. Her beauty, outstanding figure, her acting abilities and her beautiful voice, together with her great expressiveness, make her the Poppea of one’s dreams. It did not seem at all strange to me that Nero fell in love with her. After offering a splendid performance, she was wonderful in the final duet “Pur ti miro, pur ti godo”, a page that it is not Monteverdi’s.

This was one of the best performances I have seen from [Sarah Connolly], as she was very credible on stage and sang wonderfully, and was an outstanding Nero.

Maite Beaumont was a magnificent Ottavia, difficult to surpass. She sang her two great scenes, the sorrowful “Disprezzata Regina” and “Addio, Rome” in a spectacular way. Ms Beaumont is another singer who is outstanding in this repertoire, which is very well adapted to her vocal characteristics.

Drusilla, Poppea’s servant (or her friend in this production) was interpreted by Ruth Rosique, who was quite good. Her voice is well suited to the role and she is also a good actress.

Franz-Josef Selig brought nobility and the necessary stoicism to Séneca, singing the part with a voice very well suited to the character. Countertenor Dominique Visse doubled as the Nurse and Arnalta and was a superb comedian...his stage presence was wonderful."

-- José M. Irurzun, MusicWeb International
Reviewing live performance of this production

After the success of their album of music by Franceco Cavalli, the Cappella Mediterranea and Mariana Flores now present a programme devoted entirely to works for solo voice by Claudio Monteverdi, from the famous Lamento d’Arianna to the sublime (and much less well known) Voglio da vita uscir. Mariana Flores embodies here the most touching personalities of this section of Monteverdi’s output. Argentinean soprano Mariana Flores studied singing at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Since then she has lived and worked in Basel. She regularly sings early operas and vocal literature alongside fine ensembles like the Cappella Mediterranea. The ensemble Cappella Mediterranea was founded in 2005 by the Argentinian conductor Leonardo García-Alarcón. As its name indicates, the ensemble originally arose from a passion for the music of the Mediterranean basin, and aimed to propose a different approach to Baroque music of the Latin tradition. With more than forty-five concerts each year, the ensemble explores the madrigal, the polyphonic motet and opera, a mixture of genres that has molded a unique style characterized by an exceptionally close rapport between the conductor and his musicians.