Cremona
Ensemble
Musicians of Les Arts Florissants
Enregistrement
CD Cremona
Musical direction
Cast
Miriam ALLAN, soprano
Rachel REDMOND, soprano
Mélodie RUVIO, mezzo-soprano
Paul AGNEW, tenor
Sean CLAYTON, tenor
Alan EWING, bass, basse
Musical Editions:
Les Arts Florissants (Pascal Duc)
Program
Claudio MONTEVERDI - Madrigals, Second Book
Cantai un tempo, & se fu dolc’il canto
Claudio MONTEVERDI - Madrigals, First Book
Ch’ami la vita mia nel tùo bel nome
Baci soavi, e cari
La vaga pastorella
Poi che del mio dolore
Questa ordì il laccio
Fumia la pastorella
Ardo sì ma non t'amo
Ardi ò gela à tua voglia
Arsi & alsi à mia voglia
Claudio MONTEVERDI - Madrigals, Second Book
Non si levav’ancor l’alba novella…
… E dicea l’una sospirand’all’hora
S’andasse Amor à caccia
Se tu mi lassi, perfida, tuo danno
Ecco mormorar l’onde
Claudio MONTEVERDI - Madrigals, Third Book
O primavera, gioventù de l’anno
Sovra tenere herbette, e bianchi fiori
Ch’io non t’ami, cor mio
Vattene pur, crudel :
Vattene pur, crudel (Prima parte)
Là tra ’l sangue (Seconda parte)
Poi ch’ella in sé tornò (Terza e ultima parte)
Today, Cremona is known for its luthiers. How often we forget that it was also the home of one of music’s greatest geniuses: Monteverdi was born there in 1567 and spent the first twenty years of his life in this little Lombardy town in the Po Valley where his musical vocation emerged.
It was during this period of his life that he wrote the first three Books of madrigals of which tonight’s programme offers an anthology. For conductor-singer Paul Agnew, “These works are remarkable in terms of their ambitiousness and their technique. Even though there is no doubt they were written during Monteverdi’s youth, we can already detect the first tremors of the musical earthquake he would instigate a few years later.”
His refreshingly new style, mastery of counterpoint and depiction of passionate love combine to make these pieces true gems underlining the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque era. There can be no better ambassadors of this repertoire than Les Arts Florissants who have been performing it since 2011 as part of their complete cycle of Monteverdi’s madrigals — a vast enterprise which has led them right across Europe. Tonight’s programme, focussed on Cremona marks, in a way, a return to musical roots.
Previous dates
Sydney / Australia
The Concourse
- Monday, April 3 2017, 7.30pm
Torino / Italy
Conservatory
- Monday, January 9 2017, 9pm
Madrid / Spain
Auditorio Nacional de Música
- Monday, March 7 2016, 7.30pm
Zamora / Spain
Iglesia de San Cipriano
- Saturday, March 5 2016, 7pm, Festival Pórtico
Gdańsk / Poland
Artus Court
- Saturday, December 12 2015, 8pm
London / United Kingdom
Christ Church Spitalfields
- Thursday, December 10 2015, 7pm, Winter Festival
Ambronay / France
Abbaye
- Friday, October 2 2015, Festival d’Ambronay
La Perrière / France
Manoir de Soisay
- Sunday, July 12 2015, 6pm, Les musicales de Mortagne-au-Perche
Sorèze / France
Abbaye Ecole
- Friday, July 10 2015, Musique des Lumières