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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Salve Regina - Giovanni Rovetta |
| 2. Amo Christum - Alessandro Grandi |
| 3. Ave maris stella - Alessandro Grandi |
| 4. Sonata 'per sonar con due corde' - Biagio Marini |
| 5. Jesu dulcis memoria - Francesco Maria Marini |
| 6. Exultate Deo - Dario Castello |
| 7. Iam moriar, mi fili (Pianto della Madonna) - Claudio Monteverdi |
| 8. Cum invocarem - Giovanni Antonio Rigatti |
| 9. Nunc dimittis - Giovanni Antonio Rigatti |
| 10. Sonata in G major 'La Pezzoli' - Giovanni Legrenzi |
| 11. O mirandum mysterium - Giovanni Legrenzi |
| 12. Ascendit Christus in altum - Johann Rosenmuller |
Product Description
BBC Music Magazine
Venice was a hotbed of modernist experiment in the first half of the 17th century, as music underwent profound changes that amounted to a cultural revolution. One strand in that history is elucidated in this lovely recording, which traces the development of a new kind of sacred vocal music in works for solo voice, strings and continuo. Monteverdi, as maestro di cappella at St Mark's from 1613 to 1643, was a crucial figure in these changes. He is represented here by his 1641 'Iam moriar mi fili (Pianto della Madonna)', a late adaptation of the famous lament from his 1608 opera Arianna. Opera certainly became a major influence on church music - witness Legrenzi's 1692 motet 'O mirandum mysterium', which seamlessly incorporates an operatic lament - but Monteverdi's colleagues drew on other secular forms too. Alessandro Grandi's beautiful 'Ave maris stella', for example, sets the hymn as a triple-time dance, while the 'Salve regina' by Monteverdi's successor as maestro, Giovanni Rovetta, displays its modernity in the rich textures with which the instruments cradle the voice. Robin Blaze's clear, pure countertenor is the ideal voice for these pieces, and he sings them with impressive authority. The Parley of Instruments adds sensitive support. An excellent release.
Performance *****
Sound *****
© BBC Music Magazine 2001
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful repertoire, delightful singing,
By William Burn "gingerburn" (Nottingham, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Salve Regina (Audio CD)
While all the world bows down before Andreas Scholl, the British counter-tenor Robin Blaze has been slowly gathering a large fan base of his own, thanks to the luminous musicality of his singing. He is no great showman, but possesses a glorious tone and impeccable judgement.
This recording showcases Venetian music from the late sixteenth century, including Monteverdi, and the performances bring out the stunning intensity of emotion which characterises the musical aesthetic of the time. Above all, though, the listener is drawn into a charming musical world, whose expressiveness is never at the expense of melodic satisfaction. The Parley of Instruments accompany Blaze with great sensitivity, and make this recording highly to be recommended.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a voice teacher and early music fan,
By George Peabody "Ariel" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Salve Regina (Audio CD)
ON THIS DISC ROBIN BLAZE LIGHTS A FIRE!
Venetian Sacred Music changed drastically in the 1620s from the polychoral style of Gabrielli to a new and different idiom. Instead of extravagant writing for large divided choirs, the emphasis was on a few solo voices singing music that required great skill and virtuosity. In addition, somewhat in the style of Monteverdi the music became more intimate, and reflected the influence of secular music. This recording concentrates on the music for the countertenor voice, since much of it was written originally to be sung by falsettists and/or castrati. Alessandro Grandi seems to have invented the motet for solo voice with violins, and there are 2 on this disc: 'Amo Christum' and 'Ave Maria Stella'.Very little is known about Francesco Marini, but his fine setting of the hymn 'Jesu dulcis memoria' is notable for its Venetian flavour. The setting of 'Exultate Deo' is the only known vocal work of a Venetian wind player and important composer of Sonatas, Dario Costello. Monteverdi's 'Pianto della Madonna' is a strange and problematic work taken from his lost opera 'Arianna' and one cannot envision this as a religious work. Giovanni Rigatti and Giovanni Rovetta replaced Monteverdi at St. Marks after his death in 1643. Rigatti's setting of Psalm 4 "Cum invocarem" and the "Nunc dimittis" came from a collection of music for Compline, and they show that he was a master of the Monteverdi stye. In Rovetta's setting of 'Salve Regina' the instruments have a more modern role, accompanying the voice, as well as alternating with it. The 2 instrumental sonatas by Marini and Legrenzi exemplify the changes in the Italian sonata between the 1620's and 1650's. Legrenzi's charming Christmas motet "O Mirandum Mysterium" exemplifies clarity and sweetness and finally deeper things. Now comes my FAVORITE selection on the disc:'Ascendit Christus in altum' by Johann Rosenmuller. He takes the music a step forward; it consists of a joyful triple-time passage that encloses a brief recitative and a duple-time strophic aria. It is incredibly attractive. This, in my opinion, is Robin Blaze's BEST RECORDING!!!!!..His countertenor voice has more depth and emotion than I hear on his other recordings. His diction has always been flawless and his technical ability considerable. The Parley of Instruments led by Peter Holman is, as usual, excellent. A great disc for the lover of early music. 6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intimate Italian renaissance songs,
By tertius3 - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Salve Regina (Audio CD)
This is a fine album of Italian Venetian Renaissance singing to string accompaniment. Most of these pieces by diverse composers were apparently written in the decades following 1620, when Venetian music transitioned from the stentorian and brassy bi-choral music of the Gabrielis to the more virtuosic but intimate, small-scale, and string-based trio sonata with voice. The sacred texts and music--not from the mass--are mostly rather quiet but upbeat, set in contemporary secular opera rather than grand church styles, and thereby more expressive. Cut #2 is in fact a love song to Christ!, one of several texts with a tinge of sensuality. All the compositions were conceived for, and are performed here by, a solo voice and limited string accompaniment (plus two string sonatas as interludes). This produces a "small" and intimate sound, closely recorded to fill your room (much more realistically than a 19th century symphony would). Most of this music is rather somber and played at a slow to moderate tempo. Some are strophic songs while others are through-composed with greater attention to freely expressing the text, for example the extraordinarily intense "Cum invocarem..." by the neglected master G.A. Rigatti (who unfortunately died young). The final piece, by the German interloper, Rosenmüller, is of interest to hear not only for its outbreak of joyous propulsiveness but because he was a prime importer of Italian styles into Germany, eventually leading to Bach. The soloist is Robin Blaze, a wonderfully robust sounding countertenor (male alto) without breaks in his range nor a piping falsetto. The Parley of Instruments consists of six string players using small-voiced 17th-century-type instruments and led from what must be a small organ by Peter Holman (leader, music editor, and crafter of the chronological and expressive order of the pieces recorded here). Altogether a very full and fine performance that revives very rarely heard but lovely works. 2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Listen to this and you will buy it,
By Steven Guy - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Salve Regina (Audio CD)
This is an extraordinary recording of some of the music for solo voice from Italy in the first half of the 17th century. The composers represented are probably familiar to many early music lovers.
Robin Blaze is accompanied by a string ensemble & basso continuo group. Strings were popular at this time in Italy, although cornetts and sackbuts continued to be used in ceremonial and ecclesiastical music in Italy for the rest of the 17th century. Whenever I play this CD at work, someone always comments upon it and wants it. It is one of the best recordings Mr. Blaze has made. A fine achievement. |
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