MONTEVERDI Madrigals Vol 1: Cremona
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Claudio Monteverdi
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Les Arts Florissants Editions
Magazine Review Date: 07/2015
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 58
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: AF005
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Madrigals, Book 1 (Il primo libro de madrigali) |
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer
(Les) Arts Florissants ensemble Claudio Monteverdi, Composer Paul Agnew, Conductor |
Madrigals, Book 2 (Il secondo libro de madrigali) |
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer
(Les) Arts Florissants ensemble Claudio Monteverdi, Composer Paul Agnew, Conductor |
Madrigals, Book 3 (Il terzo libro de madrigali) |
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer
(Les) Arts Florissants ensemble Claudio Monteverdi, Composer Paul Agnew, Conductor |
Author: Fabrice Fitch
Chronologically, this second disc of a set of three is out of sequence: it offers a selection from Monteverdi’s first three madrigal books, issued between 1587 and 1592 (subsequent books would be more spaced out). The madrigals from this Cremonese period are not as well known as those of the subsequent Mantuan period in the previously issued Vol 2 – hence perhaps the label’s decision to issue the latter first. I reviewed that volume very enthusiastically in January, praising its cohesion and spontaneity, the sense of risk-taking without a safety net. One might say the same of this one: in several places, particularly in Book 1, the music is taken by the scruff of the neck, the beat accelerating to the point where one anticipates things coming unstuck (try the ‘thousand burning flames’ of ‘Questa ordì il laccio’, or the lover’s ‘demented words’ in ‘Arsi e alsi à mia voglia’, the contrariposta to ‘Ardo sì ma non t’amo’). Agnew’s selection from the next two books is as astute as before, and includes the ‘mini-cycle’ that concludes Book 3. I particularly enjoyed the breathless depiction of the hunt in ‘S’andasse Amor à caccia’ and the contrastingly leisurely progress of ‘Ecco mormorar l’onde’.
Monteverdi completists will note the lack of competing accounts of Books 1 and 3 from Concerto Italiano, while Book 2 boasts comparably fine readings by both them and La Venexiana. Either way, this ‘pocket cycle’ from Les Arts Florissants deserves a space on the shelf next to them. That these are live perfomances, and in a relatively dry though not unflattering acoustic, contributes to the sense of spontaneity. It also accounts for the odd stutter, which repeated listening, however, doesn’t aggravate. As with the previous volume, packaging, presentation and accompanying essays are respectively handsome, clear and illuminating. One is torn between regret that there is to be only one further volume, and anticipation at what it might bring.
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