It's good to see that this thematically-linked collection of pieces, one of The Consort of Musicke's most audacious projects to date, hasn't sunk without trace but rather is given a new lease of life on CD. Revisiting the performances after a gap of some three years, I was again struck more by The Consort's impressive performances than by some of the pieces themselves. A colleague listening alongside came to the same conclusion: that if the works by Bonini, Pari, Costa and Roscarini hadn't been Laments of Arianna written in the wake of Monteverdi's path-breaking and much revered setting, would we have had the privilege of hearing them resurrected today? Strengths each of these Laments may have, but none can command the respect of the prestigious model. Bonini's monodic scena, for example, dawdles through much of its long text and never achieves half the fiery climax of Monteverdi's Lamento, in Pari's cycle of 12 five-part madrigals astonishingly tame for so late a publication date as 1619, the scope of the palette seems far too limited for the size of the chosen canvas.
Unbalanced the pieces may be, but even so it would be churlish not to reward this two-CD set with warm applause, true admirers of The Consort will surely treasure it, Bonini, Pari and all.'