Five years ago JM greeted the Consort of Musicke's recording of Monteverdi's Fifth Book of Madrigals with great enthusiasm: now reissued on CD you can savour all the more the bittersweet dissonances and transparent textures of this superbly expressive music. His praise for the Consort of Musicke remains valid, though it is remarkable how quickly we come to take such excellence for granted. Even so, this recording sets. a hard task for any up-and-coming madrigal ensemble to beat in terms of accuracy and sensitivity. Then, again, the overall sound is very English, the passion very controlled and other approaches should not be discouraged.
I suspect that, although only a few years have passed and the personnel has remained largely the same, the Consort of Musicke would now bring a more overtly dramatic reading to the extended n pastor fido dialogues. Indeed, I am waiting for Rooley and his singers to bring out a video with as Giustiniani put it, the ''appropriate facial expression glances and gestures''. Meanwhile, this CD has to be part of any self-respecting collection.'