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Lettere Amorose
Filippo VITALI (c.1599 – 1653)
1. O bel lumi (Musiche a una e due voci, Libro secondo, 1618)
[2:56]
Sigismondo d’INDIA (c.1582 – before
19 April 1629)
2. Cruda Amarilli (Primo libro di musiche da cantar solo,
1609) [2:56]
Claudio MONTEVERDI (1567 – 1643)
3. Si dolce é il tormento (Quarto scherzo delle ariose vaghezze,
1624) [3:30]
Giulio CACCINI (1551 – 1618)
4. Odi, Euterpe, ‘l dolce canto (Le nuove musiche, 1601-02)
[3:28]
Luis De BRIÇEÑO (fl. early 17th
century)
5. Caravanda Ciacona [1:41]*
Tarquinio MERULA (1594/5 – 1665)
6. Canzonetta spirituale sopra alla nanna: Hor ch’e tempo di
dormire (Curtio precipitato et altri capricii, Libro secondo,
1638) [8:42]
Gaspar SANZ (mid 17th
– early 18th century)
7. Canarios (Instrucción de música sobre la guitarra española,
1674) [3:15]*
Sigismondo d’INDIA
8. Ma che? Squallido e oscuro(Primo libro di musiche da cantar
solo, 1609) [2:44]
Biagio MARINI (1594 – 1663)
9. Con le stele in ciel (Scherzi e canzonette Op. 5, 1622)
[4:22]
Girolamo KAPSBERGER (c.1580 – 1651)
10. Felici g’animi (Libro quarto di villanelle, 1623) [2:57]
Giovanni De MACQUE (1548/50 – 1614)
11. Capriccio stravagante [1:43]*
Girolamo KAPSBERGER
12. Aurilla mia, quando m’accese (Libro secondo di villanelle,
1619) [3:17]
Sigismondo d’INDIA
13. Torn ail sereno Zefiro (Quinto libro di musiche da cantar
solo, 1623) [2:44]
Giovanni Paolo FOSCARINI (fl. 1629
– 1647)
14. Ciacona (Primo libro di musiche da cantar solo, 1609)
[1:48]*
Barbara STROZZI (1619 – 1677)
15. L’Eraclito amoroso: Udite amanti (Cantate, arietta e
duetti, Op. 2, 1651) [7:56]
Lucas Ruiz de RIBAYAZ (*before 1650)
16. Espagnoletta (Luz y norte musical para caminar, 1677)
[2:54]*
Tarquinio MERULA
17. Folle è ben chi si crede (Curtio precipitato et altri
capricii, Libro secondo, 1638) [3:54]
Magdalena Kožená (mezzo)
Private Musicke/Pierre Pitzl
rec. Nikolaisaal, Potsdam, September-October 2009
Sung texts in Italian with French, German and English translations
enclosed
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 8764 [61:33]
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It happens that a disc is so completely enchanting that one
almost boils over with joy. This is one of those. And the reason
for the joy is not spectacular orchestral sonorities
and/or dramatic vocal gestures. It’s just that the songs and
the performance of them are so united. There is no discernable
borderline between the music and the interpretation. The voice,
the instruments and the music coalesce, and it seems that they
couldn’t exist independent of each other. They could, they do,
but the effect on at least this listener was so overwhelming
that it felt like being present at a revivalist meeting.
Strong words, I know, but there are reasons. Magdalena Kožená
is, at a time when the world is blessed with an enormous range
of great mezzo-sopranos, one of the fixed stars during the last
decade and what is so special about her is her total identification
with whatever she sings. She has a marvellous voice but she
never uses it for superficial vocal acrobatics; she works in
the service of the music. On this disc there isn’t a note that
isn’t weighed on a pair of gold scales and that’s what so endears
her to me. Technical matters are unimportant – though there
is a lot of hard labour behind the final product – and the music
comes to the fore.
The music, yes. A quick browse through the header tells the
reader that these are songs from the 17th century,
and I suppose that for those who are not generally interested
in ‘ancient music’ most of the composers’ names are unfamiliar;
Monteverdi possibly excepted. But this in no way rules the music
out. I am fully aware of the fact that there are a lot of lovers
of ‘art music’, which seems to be a better term than ‘classical
music’, for whom the history of music starts with Bach and the
other late baroque masters. I once nurtured that opinion myself
but providence helped me by letting a disc with renaissance
and early baroque music slip into a bunch of LPs I ordered from
Concert Hall –Alfred Deller was one of the artists – and then
I suddenly found that here was a new field of music with marvellous
songs and instrumental pieces.
This disc should be a similar introduction to many. Magdalena
Kožená used to sing music from this period while she studied
at the conservatory in her native Brno, so this disc is in a
way a return to the roots. At the time when the music was new
there were no strict borderlines between ‘classical’ and ‘popular’
songs. Nor were they necessarily intended for concerts in the
modern sense of the word. People gathered and sang to each other
or together - a kind of 17th century jam session.
There are several great names of the period represented. Monteverdi
was no doubt the greatest and has become the symbol of the early
opera, even though he wasn’t quite the first one to write operas.
Caccini wrote at least three operas several years before Monteverdi
and listening to the dramatic verve in the song to Euterpe (tr.
4) it’s easy to understand that he was a man of the theatre.
Monteverdi’s Si dolce è il tormento (tr. 3) also has
operatic feeling. But all the music here is on a very high level
of invention and beauty and possibly the greatest find for many
newcomers to this repertoire may be Sigismondo d’India. He is
certainly on a par with Monteverdi and maybe even more harmonically
daring and original. The elegiac Cruda Amarilli (tr.
2) is a masterpiece and so is his Tasso setting Ma che? Squallido
e oscuro (tr. 8). But Kapsberger is also a fascinating composer.
As his name reveals he was of German descent but worked in Rome.
Merula shouldn’t be overlooked and his almost nine minutes long
Canzonetta (tr. 6) is captivating, a mix of lullaby and
elegy.
It must also be pointed out that there were several female composers
active during the 17th century, Caccini’s daughter
Francesca for example – though not represented here – and the
remarkable Barbara Strozzi. Also a singer she was a prolific
producer of secular songs, many of which she also wrote the
lyrics for. L’Eraclito amoroso is a truly passionate
song.
Magdalena Kožená and Private Musicke worked together with this
repertoire at a number of concerts before they went into the
studio to set down what had been thoroughly discussed and tried
out. They also manage to convey their love for the music. The
eight musicians play on plucked and bowed string instruments
plus percussion. Besides the songs they also have some instrumental
numbers on their own. I must mention, too, that Ms Kožená hasn’t
adopted the commonly used style of historical interpreters with
little or no vibrato and a restrained approach. Hers are readings
filled to the brim with feeling and passion.
Seasoned lovers of the music of this period and lovers of the
singer will need no encouragement to purchase this disc. Those
who for some reason still aren’t convinced are advised to go
to Youtube
to get a taster. It certainly whets the appetite.
Göran Forsling
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