Monteverdi: Madrigals Book I

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Music reviews of Monteverdi: Madrigals Book I

Music Review: "The Delights of Music"
Rating: 5 Stars

Monteverdi's First Book of Madrigals, primarily for five voices a cappella or lightly accompanied, was published when he was only nineteen in 1587. The texts are secular and mostly of the 'to die upon a kiss' genre. There are some humorous examples in addition to the earnest swooning and pining sort. And towards the end of the Book there is a triptych, the second and third of which are parodies of the first - rather clever, too. All of these madrigals are set to meltingly beautiful polyphonic music of the late Renaissance/early Baroque. It was later that Monteverdi took music in an entirely new direction.

Which brings us to the remainder of the disc: a collection of Monteverdi's madrigals that were not published in his lifetime, some of them much later than Book I. One of them, once thought apocryphal but later acknowledged to be by Monteverdi, is the extended 'Lamento di Olimpia', similar to the much better-known 'Lamento d'Arianna,' and comes from Ariosto's 'Orlando Furioso.' It tells of the betrayal and abandonment of a Dutch noblewoman by her lover. One can hear in this masterpiece the same kind of drama one finds in Monteverdi's better known operas.

The musicianship, production, notes are all exemplary. A hearty recommendation, particularly at this budget price.

Description of Monteverdi: Madrigals Book I

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