Search - Andrea Damiani, Mara Galassi, Concerto Italiano :: Marenzio: Madrigali

Just accolade

Sator | Sydney, Australia | 07/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Luca Marenzio was a composer who was held in unusually high esteem in his day - in fact even more so than Monteverdi himself. Monteverdi too felt fit to include him amongst the representative composers of the Seconda Prattica (Second Practice).



Rinaldo Alessandrini has been winning just and well earned accolades for his performances of Italian madrigals. For one they have the considerable advantage over other groups in that they are singing in their native language, Italian. Their mastery of the language but also of the pecularities of Italian in Marenzio's day (think of Shakespeare's English) also thorougly put non-Italian performers in the shade. Writing in Early Music (November, 1999) Rinaldo Alessandrini put it this way after criticising the modernisation of Italian pronounciation by Italian singers he went on:



"However, this is not nearly so bad as the barbarisms of singers whose mother tongue is not Italian, who are often deluded into thinking that an indiscriminate doubling of consonants (especially the Y and the T) can re-create the sound of the Italian language. To my astonishment, I have often heard the word 'dolore' changed to 'dol-lore', also with both 'o' sounds open to the point of sounding ridiculous. (Both the 'o's in 'dolore' are dark, the second a shade more than the first.)"



To Alessandrini the sound of English groups such as the Consort of Musicke singing Italian madrigals, where word painting and articulation are so crucial, must be like listening to Shakespeare in English from an amateur Italian theatre company.



The singing here in this anthology of madrigals by Marenzio from different published collections is predictably excellent with the superb intonation typical of this group. Their love for singing and for music shines through brilliantly for whoever has their heart and mind open enough to be able to appreciate their mastery of this repertoire - just take a listen to the unbuttoned Italian charm and stylishness as the group exclaims "stravaganza d'amore!" in "Donna il Celeste Lume". Though some even then may still begrudgingly cling to old familiar recordings which still sound 'right' because that's where they'd first learnt the music from, all the rest of us must simply tip our hats and concede to these Italians that they really have this field all to themselves. It's little wonder then that along with La Venexiana, Concerto Italiano are almost universally acknowledged as the leading magrigal singers of our times.



Iain Fenlon, writing on the occasion of this recording - rightfully - winning a Gramophone award, summed things up really nicely when he wrote:



"Alessandrini has gone to the heart of this style, capturing the essential spirit of these pieces, their communicability and their transparent craftsmanship. These are beautifully paced performances which present the most persuasive argument for understanding the reasons for Marenzio's enormous reputation during his lifetime."



These are indeed simply wonderful performances and are very highly recommended. So ignore the nay-sayers - just relax, listen for yourself and enjoy, for this CD is a genuine delight from start to finish! The recorded sound on this Opus 111 is just superb, as nearly always from this source (a huge relief given the sonic limitations of many a recording by Anthony Rooley et al)."