Monteverdi and Ferrari vocal works
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Claudio Monteverdi, Benedetto Ferrari
Label: Harmonia Mundi
Magazine Review Date: 6/1984
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Catalogue Number: HM1129
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Scherzi musicali, Movement: Zefiro torna, 'ciacona', 2vv (wds. Rinuccini) |
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer Concerto Vocale |
| Madrigals, Book 7 (Concerto: settimo libro de madr, Movement: Non è di gentil core (wds. degl'Atti) |
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer Concerto Vocale |
| Madrigals, Book 7 (Concerto: settimo libro de madr, Movement: O come sei gentile, caro augellino (wds. Guarini) |
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer Concerto Vocale |
| Madrigals, Book 7 (Concerto: settimo libro de madr, Movement: Ohimè, dovè il mio ben? (wds. B. Tasso) |
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer Concerto Vocale |
| Madrigals, Book 8 (Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi., Movement: Gira il nemico insidioso |
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer Concerto Vocale |
| Queste pungenti spine |
Benedetto Ferrari, Composer
Benedetto Ferrari, Composer Concerto Vocale |
| (L')Incoronazione di Poppea, '(The) Coronation of Poppea' |
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer
Claudio Monteverdi, Composer |
Author:
I'm sure most listeners will know those sensations of eager anticipation as a new record is laid on the turntable for the first time only to be followed by growing disappointment as the stylus tracks inwards. These were certainly my own feelings about this issue. The pieces themselves are of course mostly superb; the only exception is Ferrari's Queste pungenti spine, a lengthy and unfocused cantata spirituale for solo voice, which is hardly the sort of work likely to convince us that it was he and not Monteverdi who wrote ''Pur ti miro, pur ti godo'', the closing duet of L'incoronazione di Poppea. Nor can one quibble with the quality of instrumental accompaniment, which is excellent throughout. Quite simply it is the two solo voices that let this record down.
By today's standards of early-music performance, Helga Muller-Molinari's voice possesses an unusually rich bloom. No one could describe her reading of the famous lamento from Monteverdi'sL'Arianna as economical or understated, and a sense of grand opera prevails throughout. This clearly raised problems of balance with the supporting continuo, which as a result is placed uncomfortably forward of the voice. Rene Jacobs also has one piece to himself—the cantata by Ferrari—and here it is the combination of rawness of tone and affectation of delivery that distracts. On the whole the duets are better, though I would have preferred two sopranos or two altos rather than one of each for those pieces that are genuinely scored for a pair of equal voices. Quite why the singers should have to exchange parts a few bars into O come sei gentile I cannot understand; nor could i help wondering at a poor tape edit in Bel pastor, which certainly should have been corrected. As for ''Pur ti miro, pur ti godo'', if you desire magic I'm afraid you will have to look elsewhere.'
By today's standards of early-music performance, Helga Muller-Molinari's voice possesses an unusually rich bloom. No one could describe her reading of the famous lamento from Monteverdi's
Monteverdi and Ferrari vocal works
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