Search - Huelgas Ensemble, Van Nevel :: La Pellegrina - Music for the Wedding of Ferdinando De Medici and Christine de Lorraine, Princess of France, Florence 1589

La Pellegrina - Music for the Wedding of Ferdinando De Medici and Christine de Lorraine, Princess of France, Florence 1589

Huelgas Ensemble, Van Nevel
La Pellegrina - Music for the Wedding of Ferdinando De Medici and Christine de Lorraine, Princess of France, Florence 1589
Genres: Pop, Classical

Track Listings (15) - Disc #1
1. Dalle pi? alte sfere, madrigal for soprano & 4 instruments (doubtful)
2. Noi che cantando, ? 8
3. Sinfonia ? 6 (I) from La Pellegrina (Primo Intermedio: L'armonia delle sfere): Part: from la Pellegrina, Intermedio I
4. Dolcissime sirene, ? 6
5. A voi reali amanti, ? 15
6. Coppia gentil d'aventurosi amanti, madrigal for 6 voices
7. Sinfonia ? 6 (I) from La Pellegrina (Primo Intermedio: L'armonia delle sfere): Part: from la Pellegrina, Intermedio II
8. Belle ne fe natura, villanella for 3 voices (Il primo libro delle villanelle a 3 voci)
9. Chi dal delfino aita, madrigal for 6 voices
10. Se nelle voci nostre, madrigal for 12 voices
11. O figlie di Piero, madrigal for 18 voices
12. Qui di carne si sfama, madrigal for 12 voices: Part: from la Pellegrina, Intermedio III
13. Sinfonia: la Battaglia Taliana: Sinfonia
14. O valoroso dio, madrigal for 4 voices
15. O mille volte mille, madrigal for 8 voices
Track Listings (14) - Disc #2
1. Io che dal ciel cader, madrigal
2. Sinfonia ? 6 (I) from La Pellegrina (Primo Intermedio: L'armonia delle sfere): Part: from la Pellegrina, Intermedio IV
3. Or che le due grand' alme, ? 6
4. Miseri habitator, ? 5
5. Io che l'onde raffreno, ? 5
6. E noi con questa bella diva, ? 5
7. Sinfonia ? 6 (I) from La Pellegrina (Primo Intermedio: L'armonia delle sfere): Part: from la Pellegrina, Intermedio V
8. Dunque fra torbid'onde, madrigal
9. Lieti solcando il mare, ? 7
10. Dal vago e bel sereno ? 6
11. O qual risplende nube, ? 6
12. Godi, turba mortal, madrigal for soprano & 4 instruments
13. O fortunato giorno, ? 30
14. O che nuovo miracolo, ? 5 / ? 3

Larger Image

CD Details

All Artists: Huelgas Ensemble, Van Nevel
Title: La Pellegrina - Music for the Wedding of Ferdinando De Medici and Christine de Lorraine, Princess of France, Florence 1589
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Sony
Release Date: 11/10/1998
Genres: Pop, Classical
Styles: Vocal Pop, Opera & Classical Vocal, Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Baroque (c.1600-1750), Symphonies
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 074646336229

Synopsis

Amazon.com

The Medici of Florence were renowned for (among other things) the magnificent palazzos and churches they built and the magnificent musical-dramatic entertainments they staged, often known as stravaganze (extravaganzas). The music on this album (first performed as part of the 1589 wedding celebrations for Ferdinando de' Medici) was the apotheosis of the stravaganza, using the most famous--and most expensive--composers, singers, and instrumentalists in Italy with a huge chorus and orchestra and newfangled stage machinery. Among the composers were Luca Marenzio, the greatest madrigalist of the day, and Jacopo Peri and Giulio Caccini, who went on to write the very first operas; the music alternates between pieces in madrigal style (often for two groups of singers in dialogue) and florid, virtuoso showpieces for soloists; there are big complements of lutes and other chord instruments for color, weight, and variety. Re-creating all this is an enormous undertaking, and Paul van Nevel deserves congratulations for bringing it off so successfully (as does Sony for paying for it). The result isn't great music-drama like Monteverdi's Orfeo; it was never intended to be anything but the enjoyable, fabulous spectacle it is. --Matthew Westphal

CD Reviews

Suave readings but too calculated

John Weretka | Melbourne, Australia | 06/20/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I found this most recent performance of the music for the wedding of Ferdinando de Medici and Christine de Lorraine interesting to compare to the much older recording with Emma Kirkby, Emily van Evera, the Taverner Consort et al (1988). There is absolutely no doubt that the current recording develops many of the themes which the older recording glosses over, including beauty of sound. There is much beautiful singing on the current recording, including an extremely convincing reading of the song of Arion by Stephan Macleod (although Nigel Rogers' singing of this on the 1988 recording is one of the major reasons to own that recording). The major difference between this new recording and the 1988 recording is the understanding of scale -- the old recording conceptualises this is as a large, magnificent series of tableaux while the newer recording very rarely has everyone singing or playing together. For my money, the instrumentation of the old recording is much more varied and colourful as well. Despite the occasionally very ugly vocal sounds and the relatively colourless though nimble singing of Emma Kirbky, the 1988 recording really captures the energy and magnificence of the music. The new recording is just too calculated and light-limbed."