Monteverdi: Madrigali Volume 2: Mantova - Excerpts from Books IV, V and VI
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CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: Madrigali Volume 2: Mantova - Excerpts from Books IV, V and VI
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
[ Les Arts Florissants Editions / CD ]
Release Date: Monday 2 February 2015
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
With this album Les Arts Florissants inaugurate a three-volume series devoted to the finest pages of Monteverdi's madrigals. Each volume will be linked to one of the cities that marked the composer's life: the present opus dedicated to Mantova (extracts from Books IV, V and VI) will be followed by two others devoted to Cremona (April 2015 - Books I, II and III) and Venice (February 2016 - Books VII and VIII). These publications all draw on the indepth work carried out by Paul Agnew at the head of an ensemble that has already shone in this repertoire on numerous European stages. The birth of a milestone series, in a beautifully designed boxset, featuring a new text commissioned by Les Arts Florissants by René de Ceccatty, the renowned French writer.
"As you would expect from this source, the performances are immaculate, the vocal colouring, the phrasing and the ensemble utterly refined. Some may prefer an earthier, more Italianate approach in this music, but the sheer accomplishment of Les Arts Florissants is hard to resist." (Guardian)
"the vocalists - Agnew sings and directs from within the ensemble - give us Monteverdi's own five-voice arrangement of Arianna's Lament, delivered with the dramatic intensity and attention to textual clarity and dynamic variety that are the hallmarks of the ensemble's Monteverdi." (Sunday Times)
"This is a very impressive recording...The level of control and unanimity of the singers is astonishing, as is the huge sense of commitment to the words which permeate the recording. Some initial shock at the intensity of some passages and the closeness to the edge to which the singers push the dissonance, gives way to admiration...the singers of Les Arts Florissants have got the measure of Monteverdi's writing...This is definitely a must buy." (Early Music Review)
"Agnew's selection is impeccably judged...Les Arts Florissants have not so rich a sound as their Italian counterparts but the lighter timbre makes for a texture of rare transparency, an elfin capacity to render changes that can be properly breathtaking...And if you don't know a single volume this should be enough to persuade you that you ought to have done, long ago." (Gramophone Disc of the Month Jan 2015)
