Venezia Stravagantissima
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Composer: Floriano CanaliComposer: Giovanni Gabrieli
Composer: Gioseffo Guami
Composer: Antonio Incerto
Composer: Pietro Lappi
Composer: Giorgio Mainerio
Composer: Giovanni Picchi
Composer: Orazio Vecchi
Composer: Gasparo Zanetti
Conductor: Skip Sempe
Orchestra: Capriccio Stravagante
Performer: Guillemette Laurens
Edition: Music CD
Music Label: Alpha Productions
Music reviews of Venezia Stravagantissima
Music Review: Excellent performances, but dubious musicology...
Rating: 5 Stars
Judged solely on the strength of the performances, this recording can - on the whole - be warmly recommended (track listing given at the end of this review). The personnel line-up comprises many well-known exponents of early music (from groups such as Hesperion XXI, the Harp Consort, the Huelgas Ensemble and Le Poeme Harmonique) and the programme is an attractive compilation of late 16th and early 17th century Italian music. [In fact, in both ensemble and programme, this recording is reminiscent of (and perhaps inspired by?) David Munrow's with the Early Music Consort of London entitled 'Two Renaissance Dance Bands' (Testament SBT1080)]. Under Sempe's direction, the individual players of Capriccio Stravagante frequently demonstrate incredible virtuosity, perhaps most obviously in the breath-taking cornett diminutions of Doron D Sherwin.
There are, however, two reservations...: firstly, at just over 50 minutes the duration is not the most generous, particularly given that the last track includes over 7 minutes of material from previous tracks (5, 7 and 1), making the real duration nearer 45 minutes. Secondly, questions arise from the musicology presented in defence of the approach adopted here. In the liner notes (p.41), Sempe viciously attacks metric performances of Early Music, arguing that the 'allure' of much pre-Baroque music resides in its close association with the doctrine of rhetoric and the imitation of speech. Whilst this undoubtedly true for the operas and madrigals of Monteverdi, Peri and Wert etc., it seems difficult to envisage how it is relevant in performance of dance music [i.e. functional music intended solely for dancing to] - here Mainerio, Picchi, Zanetti - particularly since Sempe provides no evidence in support of this hypothesis. (Indeed, the only document cited in the notes - Thomas Croyat's description of musical celebrations at San Rocco, 1608 ['Croyat's Crudities...', 1611, pp.251-3] - refers neither to the principal of rhetoric, nor even really to the type of music performed here [with the exception of track 14, and at a push tracks 3, 9 and 12], to say nothing of the notable difference between the ensemble Croyat describes - 4 cornetts, 10 trombones, 2 viola da gambas, 1 violin and 7 organists - and the one used on this recording). Furthermore, even when the rhetoric is applied to more suitable music - such as Vecchi's 'Mostrav in ciel' - it does not bring out the meaning of the [unsung] words anyway; the piece is instead treated as an abstract instrumental work. Given that Sempe's approach in all Early Music is 'rhetorical' in this sense - whether Cabezon, Lully or Bach - it is difficult to avoid concluding that the decision was based on aesthetic rather than musicological reasons. Aesthetic motivations would also seem to account for some of the choices of ensemble, which whilst not necessarily 'wrong', are difficult to substantiate with evidence (Zanetti's 'Il Scolaro' [1645], for example, was primarily intended for violins as opposed to the mixed strings/wind forces exploited here).
Ultimately then, this CD must be assessed on aesthetic grounds. Taken as a whole there is much to recommend, and the best tracks place this recording alongside the greatest available recordings of Renaissance dance music, like those of Pickett and Savall (hence the 5 stars and not 4) - just prepare yourself for some slightly awkward moments when the 'rhetoric' goes a bit overboard!!
Tracks:
1. Pavan 'The Funerals' - Antonio Incerto (fl.1584-1602)
2. Pass'e mezzo Moderno - Giorgio Mainerio (1535-82)
3. Canzon Vigesimaquarta a 8 - Gioseffe Guami (1540-1611)
4. Mostrav' in ciel: Tedesca a 5 - Orazio Vecchi (1550-1605)
5. Tedesca e Saltarello - Mainerio
6. Pass'e mezzo Antico - Mainerio
7. Pass'e mezzo della Paganina e Saltarello - Mainerio
8. Ballo alla Polacha - Giovanni Picchi (fl.1600-25)
9. Canzona: La Balzana a 8 - Floriano Canale (1550-1603)
10. Gioite tutti in suoni: Saltarello detto il Vecchi - Vecchi
11. Ballo Anglese e Saltarello - Mainerio
12. Canzon Decimaottava a 8: La Negrona - Pietro Lappi (1575-1630)
13. Intrada del Marchese di Caravazzo - Gasparo Zanetti (fl.1626-45)
14. Canzon II - Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1555-1612)
15. Ballo Ongaro - Picchi
16. So ben mi ch'ha bon tempo - Vecchi + finale
Description of Venezia Stravagantissima
Guillemette Laurens, mezzo-soprano; Damien Colcomb, organ; Fran??oise Johannel, harpe; Mike Fentross, vihuela; Francis Lassus, percussionGabrieli, Giovanni CDs
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