This disc brings
repertoire from the 17th and early
18th century which is presented
as examples of 'bel canto', as Hans
Ludwig Hirsch indicates by entitling
his programme notes 'A Voce sola
or From the birth of bel canto'.
It reflects the musicological views
of the early 20th century, when
the term 'bel canto' was used to
contrast the style of Italian composing
of the 1630's and 40's with the
'stilo rappresentativo' of the earlier
decades. But as a term to characterise
a certain style of singing it came
only in use in the 20th century.
To suggest Caccini, in his writings,
laid the foundations of 'bel canto'
singing is therefore rather confusing.
The more so as it is mostly associated
with the style of singing of the
early 19th century, in particular
in operas by Rossini, Bellini and
Donizetti. And the confusion is
even enhanced by the credentials
of the singer on this disc, William
Matteuzzi. In the time this recording
was made he was considered a specialist
in the early 19th century opera,
and was particularly praised for
his remarkably high tessitura. But
there is a fundamental difference
between the early 19th-century 'bel
canto' and the style of singing
of the early 17th century. The ideal
of the early 17th century was 'recitar
cantando', speechlike singing. Matteuzzi's
performances are far off this ideal.
The main problem
is that the text isn't paid attention
to enough. There is little differentiation
between single words and syllables
and the notes set to them. Even
in long melismas most notes are
sung the same way which makes them
sound like the bleating of a goat,
in particular as Matteuzzi mostly
sings them forte. And when the tempo
is fast, his voice sounds unpleasantly
sharp, and his singing becomes almost
aggressive. By far the worst performance
on this disc is Monteverdi's 'Confitebor
tibi, Domine'. The very fast tempo
of the main section gets him into
trouble: he manages to sing the
notes right, but there is no proper
phrasing here nor a real interpretation
of the text.
The last piece
of this disc, Carissimi's cantata
'Apritevi inferni', also demonstrates
the shortcomings of Matteuzzi's
singing. It requires a very agile
voice and the ability to switch
from the lower into the higher register
very quickly, which Matteuzzi hardly
manages. And the way he ends the
piece with a high note sung fortissimo
and held much longer than needed
is just tasteless.
In addition the
playing of the ensemble is not more
than mediocre. The tendency to mess
with the tempi - Monteverdi's 'Confitebor'
is a good example of this - is annoying.
Considering the
date of the recording as given in
the booklet I assumed it had been
released earlier, but the record
company informed me it hasn't. This
makes it even more surprising that
it is released now and that the
booklet contains an out of date
essay about the music. Some recordings
of the 1980's and 1990's are well
worth to be (re)issued. Some of
them are historically interesting
in that they show how early music
was interpreted at the time. Many
of them are musically still satisfying
as well. But when this programme
was recorded, it was already out
of step with the interpretation
of early music at the time. In those
days singers like Nigel Rogers,
René Jacobs and Max van Egmond
were much better able to sing this
kind of repertoire, and even in
previous times there were singers
who surpassed Matteuzzi's singing
here, like the British countertenor
Alfred Deller. Therefore I can't
see any justification for releasing
this recording nor any reason to
buy it.
The booklet contains
the lyrics in their original language,
but without translations. Neither
the names of the players in the
ensemble nor the instruments used
are listed.
Johan van
Veen
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William Matteuzzi
(tenor); Hubert Hoffmann (archlute) 
