Monteverdi - Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi / Rooley, The Consort of Musicke

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
"Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi" ("Madrigals Warlike and Amorous") is how Claudio Monteverdi titled his eighth and largest book of madrigals--which was actually two volumes in one. The "warlike madrigals" (concerned largely with the "war of love") feature the "agitated style" Monteverdi pioneered: quick, almost nervous writing, lots of rapidly repeated notes, and more syllables than a Gilbert & Sullivan patter song. These works culminate in the famous short quasi-opera Il Combattimento de Tancredi e Clorinda. The "amorous madrigals" are no less ardent, but they are less, well, warlike--that is, more leisurely paced, with plenty of chromaticism, dissonant suspensions, and giddily virtuosic runs to depict the pain and excitement of love.

Anthony Rooley, Emma Kirkby, and the Consort of Musicke made these recordings in the early 1990s. While the performances were widely admired in their day, they're now universally considered (at least by those of us who actually spend time thinking about such things) to have been superseded by the remarkable work of Rinaldo Alessandrini and Concerto Italiano. It's true that some of the singing on the Consort's first disc is lackluster, but things perk right up with the young Paul Agnew's solo in Volgendo il ciel followed by an energetic Combattimento. Everyone's back in fine form for the "amorous" madrigals on the second disc; particularly notable are the virtuoso turns for Agnew, Andrew King, and Alan Ewing, as well as the Divine Miss Emma. Yes, Concerto Italiano is preferable if you can afford both of the full-price discs, but at the bargain price Virgin is charging for these reissues, you'll get more than your money's worth. --Matthew Westphal

Tracks:

Madrigali guerrieri: Altri canti d'Amor: Sinfonia - Altri canti d'Amor
Madrigali guerrieri: Altri canti d'Amor: Tu Cui tessuta han di Cesare alloro
Madrigali guerrieri: Hor che'l ciel: Hor che'l ciel, e la terra, e'l vento tace
Madrigali guerrieri: Hor che'l ciel: Cosi sol d'una chiara fonte viva
Madrigali guerrieri: Gira il nemico insidioso
Madrigali guerrieri: Se vittorie si belle
Madrigali guerrieri: Armato il cor
Madrigali guerrieri: Ogni amante e guerrier
Madrigali guerrieri: Ogni amante e guerrier: Io che nell'otio naqui e d'otio vissi
Madrigali guerrieri: Ogni amante e guerrier: Ma per quel ampio Egeo spieghi le vele
Madrigali guerrieri: Ardo, ardo, avvampo
Madrigali guerrieri: Volgendo il ciel
Madrigali guerrieri: Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda: Tancredi, che Clorinda un homo stima
Madrigali guerrieri: Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda: Non schivar, non parar, non pur ritrarsi
Madrigali guerrieri: Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda: Tre volte il cavalier la donna stringe
Madrigali guerrieri: Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda: Torna l'ira nei cori, e li trasporta
Madrigali guerrieri: Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda: Amico, hai vinto: io ti perdon...perdona

Tracks:

Madrigali amorosi: Altri canti di Marte
Madrigali amorosi: Altri canti di Marte: Due begli occhi fur l'armi
Madrigali amorosi: Mentre vaga Angioletta
Madrigali amorosi: Ardo e scoprir
Madrigali amorosi: O sia tranquillo il mare
Madrigali amorosi: Ninfa, che scalza il piede
Madrigali amorosi: Dolcissimo uscignolo
Madrigali amorosi: Chi vol haver felice
Madrigali amorosi: Lamento della ninfa: Non havea Febo ancora
Madrigali amorosi: Lamento della ninfa: Amor, dicea, il ciel
Madrigali amorosi: Perche t'en fuggi, o Fillide
Madrigali amorosi: Non partir ritrosetta
Madrigali amorosi: Su, su, su, pastorelli vezzosi
Madrigali amorosi: Vago augelletto

Amazon.com

"Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi" ("Madrigals Warlike and Amorous") is how Claudio Monteverdi titled his eighth and largest book of madrigals--which was actually two volumes in one. The "warlike madrigals" (concerned largely with the "war of love") feature the "agitated style" Monteverdi pioneered: quick, almost nervous writing, lots of rapidly repeated notes, and more syllables than a Gilbert & Sullivan patter song. These works culminate in the famous short quasi-opera Il Combattimento de Tancredi e Clorinda. The "amorous madrigals" are no less ardent, but they are less, well, warlike--that is, more leisurely paced, with plenty of chromaticism, dissonant suspensions, and giddily virtuosic runs to depict the pain and excitement of love.

Anthony Rooley, Emma Kirkby, and the Consort of Musicke made these recordings in the early 1990s. While the performances were widely admired in their day, they're now universally considered (at least by those of us who actually spend time thinking about such things) to have been superseded by the remarkable work of Rinaldo Alessandrini and Concerto Italiano. It's true that some of the singing on the Consort's first disc is lackluster, but things perk right up with the young Paul Agnew's solo in Volgendo il ciel followed by an energetic Combattimento. Everyone's back in fine form for the "amorous" madrigals on the second disc; particularly notable are the virtuoso turns for Agnew, Andrew King, and Alan Ewing, as well as the Divine Miss Emma. Yes, Concerto Italiano is preferable if you can afford both of the full-price discs, but at the bargain price Virgin is charging for these reissues, you'll get more than your money's worth. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews:

Mature Monteverdi at his best!.......2000-05-11

This interpetation of the 8th (and last) book of madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi is the best I've heard. Nine perfectly balanced voices with clear but restrained period instrumentation show off the music in its polyphonic and chromatic brilliance. Solo passages are sung with great attention to the phrasing and dynamic possibilities inherent in the score. The overall effect is one of intimate brilliance.

The enginnering of the recording was excellent. The only disapointment was a dearth of information about the text of the score.