Rinaldo Alessandrini, Concerto Italiano - Monteverdi: Concerto. Settimo libro de' madrigali (2022) [Hi-Res]

With this recording of Book VII of Claudio Monteverdi’s Madrigals (1619, Venice), Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto Italiano devote themselves to a love theme with a very pastoral edge the composer particularly savoured.
The Italian harpsichordist and conductor once again offers us a collection of Monteverdi madrigals of the highest quality, in which the poems not only lead the singing, but also determine the arrangement of the madrigals by poet. Inspired by "the hitherto unpublished stamp of a literary intention" indicated by the composer at the start of the collection, Rinaldo Alessandrini and his ensemble, accustomed to enlightening dramatics, offer a sparkling polyphony varying from one to six voices, in a wide range of pitches.

"In Book VII", he explains, "a new musical concept comes to light. The relationship with the text is different, radically so. We are not only attempting a new and ideal imitation of the text, but we also endeavour to install the music in a more obviously narrative dimension through our performance". From the lamento of a troubled mind to the ardent declaration of the headstrong lover, from the passionate letter to the canzonetta in verse, the scenarios follow on from one another like so many variations of love and kisses – stolen, hesitant, dearly bought, scathing –, mirroring nature. We sing of the "flame", the "sparks", the "golden forest" and the "ardent sighs", in full light. That which the faithful soloists – Monica Piccinini and Sonia Tedla (sopranos), Elenza Carzaniga and Andres Montilla (altos), Valerio Contaldo and Raffaele Giordani (tenors) and Salvo Vitaleu (bass) – and the instrumentalists of the Concerto Italiano diffuse so generously.