Early Music
Gesualdo Madrigals: Book 1 – Baci soavi, e cari; Bella Angioletta da le vaghe piume; Com’esser può ch’io viva se m’uccidi?; Felice primavera; Gelo ha Madonna il seno; Madonna, io ben vorrei; Mentre Madonna il lasso fianco posa; Mentre, mia stella, miri; Non mirar, non mirare; O dolce mio martire; Questi leggiadri odorosetti fiori; Se da sì nobil mano; Si gioioso mi fanno i dolor miei; Son sì belle le rose; Tirsi morir volea; Book 2 – All’apparir di quelle luci ardenti; Candida man, qual neve, a gl’occhi offerse; Caro amoroso neo; Dalle odorate spoglie; Hai rotto, e sciolto, e spento a poco a poco; In più leggiadro velo; Non è questa la mano; Non mai, non cangerò; Non mi toglia il ben mio; O come è gran martire; Se così dolce è il duolo; Sento che nel partire; Se per lieve ferita; Se taccio, il duol s’avanza Les Arts Florissants / Paul Agnew Harmonia Mundi F (two discs for the price of one) HAF890 5307/8 (82’ • DDD • T/t) Recorded live at the Cité de la Musique, Paris, June 2019
Some 30 years ago Iain Fenlon referred to Les Arts Florissants’ initial Gesualdo disc as their ‘first foray into the schizophrenic world of Gesualdo’s five-voice madrigals’ (10/88). His words encapsulated perfectly a common overarching view of Gesualdo’s virtuoso chromaticism which suited the text-centred, quick-fire responses of William’s Christie’s original singers so well. Now the ensemble return to Gesualdo’s madrigals with Paul Agnew at the helm and a new generation of voices as they celebrate their 40th-anniversary concerts. Beginning with Books 1 and 2, we encounter lesser-known and less extrovert works but find the ensemble crackling with that same intellectual energy.
Throughout this recording the unaccompanied voices underplay Gesualdo’s quirks, consigning actions and emotions to subtler, less frenetic planes than others have before, and maintain flowing, conversational tempos. Take the opening of Book 1, ‘Baci soavi, e cari’ (‘Kisses sweet and tender’), where the voices are flushed, blushing with quick and tender kisses. How unencumbered and mobile these singers are compared to the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam (CPO, 2/06). Likewise, the harpsichord used by Concerto delle Dame di Ferrara (Brilliant Classics) feels unnecessarily persistent by comparison. The fleeting nature of Gesualdo’s flurried passages is a particular speciality of Les Arts Florrissants: after a still, frigid opening to ‘Gelo ha Madonna il seno’ (‘My lady has ice in her heart’), the change to flickering flames in her eyes is impressively palpable. With the sound of their Award-winning Monteverdi madrigals (1/15, 7/15, 2/17) fresh in our ears, this new disc, also made from live recordings, offers fresh views of that famous madrigalian fork-in-the-road: Monteverdi’s experimental laboratory veered towards monody, Gesualdo’s led him to push further into the polyphonic web, fracturing texts and harmonies. The sheer inquisitive delight that these singers bring to Gesualdo’s extraordinary world indicates a very exciting series ahead. Edward Breen
Landini ‘L’occhio del cor – Songs of Invisible Love’ L’alma mie piang’e mai non può aver pace. Che cosa è quest’amor che ’l ciel produce. Che pena è questa al cor. Divennon gli ochi mie nel partir duro. Gram piant’agli ochi, greve doglia al core. Guard’una volta incià verso ’l tuo servo. Mostrommi Amor già fra le verdi fronde. Muort’oramai deh misero dolente. Nella tuo luce tien la vita mia. Non arà may pietà questa mia dona. Non per fallir di me tuo vista pia. Ochi dolenti mie che pur piangete. Per un amante rio tal pena sento. Poichè partir convienmi, donna cara. Tante belleçe in questa donna stanno La Reverdie / Christophe Deslignes organetto Arcana F A462 (65’ • DDD • T/t)
With over 20 CDs of medieval music to their name, the (Italian) group
La Reverdie are certainly well placed to do an entire CD of Landini; and on the present showing perhaps they are the people best equipped to record the complete works of Landini, still a major lacuna in the catalogue. That is because they do everything with verve and commitment, giving each piece its own colour and meaning. To say that their performances are technically flawless is perhaps to miss the point, but that helps everything to work. On the other hand, to my ears, the two most successful pieces are L’alma mie piang’e and Muort’oramai, in which the sisters Caffagni and Elisabetta De Mircovich sing alone, as they have been doing for over 30 years in public: there is a quality of musical exchange, of understanding where the pressure-points must come and of clear projection that is a rare pleasure to hear.
For this issue they have the welcome addition of Christophe Deslignes, organetto player extraordinary, who contributes magnificently to the ensembles and plays the Faenza codex arrangements of Non arà may pietà and Che pena è questa al cor, sticking very closely to what is in the manuscript (warts and all). My only complaints are that the (unsigned) English translation of Davide Daolmi’s interesting note is not very good and that the texts are printed so small that I had to use a magnifying glass. David Fallows
Peñalosa . Escobar . Guerrero Escobar Stabat mater dolorosa Guerrero Antes que comáis a Dios. Quae est ista Peñalosa Lamentations. Missa L’homme armé – Gloria; Credo; Agnus Dei. Sancta Maria, succurre miseris. Unica est columba mea New York Polyphony BIS F Í BIS2407 (57’ • DDD/DSD • T/t)
It’s wonderful to hear more music from Francisco de Peñalosa (1470-
1528), and particularly pleasing that it comes on this stylish release from New York Polyphony complete with superb booklet notes by Ivan Moody. Peñalosa’s life coincided with the beginning of the Spanish ‘Golden Age’ and he was a key figure in the generation before Cristóbal de Morales (1500‑53). A useful elevator pitch would be ‘Flemish polyphony with a twist’.
gramophone.co.uk
GRAMOPHONE SHORTLIST 2020 23
