Search - Claudio Monteverdi, La Venexiana :: Monteverdi: Concerto Settimo Libro dei Madrigali

Monteverdi: Concerto Settimo Libro dei Madrigali

Bjorn Viberg | European Union | 09/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Monteverdi: Concerto Settimo Libro dei Madrigali is such a fine recording and the production value is right on the mark. Glossa have managed to create a wonderful and crisp sound that sounds as if one was listening to this live. The song group Venexiana have verily captured the true spirit and sound that Monteverdi has put in his music. The quality of the singers is so fine and with talents such as Rossana Bertini and Francesco Lattuada one can honestly say that Monteverdi himself would have been pleased. The book-let is splendid and Glossa have certainly not skimped on this. The book-let is filled with fine photographs and well chosen pictures. On the whole I will give this 5 out of 5 stars."

A great recording of il Settimo Libro dei Madrigali

Steven Guy | Croydon, South Australia | 02/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The 1619 Seventh Book of Madrigals has long been my favourite, I love the revolutionary 8th Book, of course, but the 7th Book contains music I love very much. Undoubtedly, much of the music in this collection represents Monteverdi at a musical "cross-road". Some of the music is frankly operatic and other works are designed for performance by competent amateurs.

The singers of La Venexiana are perfect for this music. They are Italians and clearly understand the language and rhetoric in these works. La Venexiana has probably made the most important and most entertaining recordings of Italian madrigals of the late 16th and early 17th centuries since Anthony Rooley's The Consort of Musicke in the late '80s and early '90s.

La Venexiana's recording is spacious and one can imagine the performers giving this performance in a medium sized hall.

Highlights? For me, La Venexiana's recording of Tirsi e Clori is the best I've heard - I have three other recordings. Tempro la cetra is also very good. It does sound like a prologue for an opera! Perhaps it was a "sketch" for a lost opera? Note, La Venexiana uses strings, lutes and keyboards in this work, although note exact instrumentation is suggested by Monteverdi and cornetts and sackbuts would work just as well in the sinfoniae. The Consort of Musicke also recorded Tempro la cetra and theirs also features strings, lutes and harpsichords. The issue of instrumentation is one of my few quibbles about this recording - a number of instruments specified by Claudio Monteverdi himself are left out of La Venexiana's recording of Con che soavità, labbra odorate. This piece features a solo soprano voice and three "choirs" of instruments. The sublime recording of this piece by The Consort of Musicke, with Emma Kirkby, features all the instruments specified by Monteverdi and the effect is very beautiful and, I may say, worth the effort! However, La Venexiana just falls a little short and I feel that this is a little inexcusable, considering how much more common are competent players of early instruments are these days. However, La Venexiana's Con che soavità is very beautiful and the gentle drama of the piece is brought out in a very agreeable and convincing way, in spite of the slight "fudging" of Monteverdi's very sumptuous instructions vis-à-vis the instrumentation of the madrigal.

La Venexiana's performance of A quest'olmo, a quest'ombre is very good and full of colour. I wish this madrigal was performed more often! It is one of Monteverdi's best late ensemble madrigals. Those who own a copy of the score, as I do, will notice that this madrigal has been transposed down about a major third. I haven't checked the others for transpositions. I am not entirely cool with this, but the performance is still excellent, despite the drop and the loss of all those wonderful top As from the sopranos!



La Venexiana's recordings of all the madrigal books of Monteverdi is a very important and powerful collection. I recommend them to all music lovers, particularly my favourite - La Venexiana's very poetic and visionary recording of il Terzo Libro.



It should be noted that Deliciae Musicae has also just issued a recording il Settimo libro dei Madrigali of Monteverdi on NAXOS. I haven't managed to acquire a copy of this recording yet, however I look forward to giving it a listen as soon as possible!"

An excelent Monteverdi performance

MarioCarpinetti | La Plata Argentine | 03/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The 7th book of Monteverdi Madrigals is without doubt an example of tne mix between the manneristic and barroque styles. La Venexiana obtained just a suitable equilibrium of these two aspects, that because they belong to opposite aestethic fields appearing permanently intermingled, turn this book into a very difficult musical enterprise.

Besides, the vocal quality of the singers and the careful achievement of the counterpoint planes add exquisite sonorities to the conductor's clever musical thought.Giaches de Wert: La Gerusalemme Liberata

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