Search - Orlande de Lassus, David Fallis, Toronto Consort :: Lasso: Chansons And Madrigals

For more than 25 years, the Toronto Consort has been researching and presenting innovative performances of early music. The seven-member ensemble specializes in music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and often combines with other musicians, dancers, and occasionally actors to bring centuries-old music to life for modern audiences. This wonderful collection of pieces by the great Franco-Flemish master Orlando di Lasso primarily features solo and ensemble vocal works, all of them secular songs and madrigals whose sole subject is love. While most have a certain refinement in both music and text, the disc's final selection depicts a wild, somewhat bawdy street scene "complete with squawking roosters and quarreling lovers." One of the disc's highlights is a gorgeous duet with recorder and organ. --David Vernier