Search - Heinrich Isaac, Italian Anonymous, Anonymous :: Lorenzo Il Magnifico: Trionfo Di Bacco, Carnival Songs

Best CD of Renaissance Music!

A reader | United States | 07/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is by far the best CD of Italian Renaissance music that I've ever encountered, and I've listened to a LOT of them! Most performance ensembles take a reverential, almost religious approach to 15th-century music, whether the music is of a religious nature or not. The result is that so many performances are deadly dull. No wonder most people don't like the music of this period.



But this recording is different. The performances are lively and sometimes raucous and the rhythms irresistible. The songs make you want to get up and dance!



Most of the songs were written for performance during Carnival, although, despite the CD's title, only one is definitely by Lorenzo de' Medici. There's a booklet with the texts, in the original Italian, as well as French and English translations, and an excellent introduction to the music as well. The texts are full of hilariously gross double-ententres: no matter what the song pretends to be about-- it's really about sex.



The exception to this rule are the three songs from the era of the fanatical reforming monk Savonarola: these "Carnevale del Crocifisso" songs are as pious as the secular songs are ribald, and they form a nice contrast to the "carnal" Carnival ditties.



If you buy one disc of Renaissance music-- buy this one!"