Gennari Rinaldo

This talented Italian vocal ensemble, under the direction of Rinaldo Alessandrini, has already proved its excellence in previous discs of Monteverdi madrigals. In this engaging new release the artists turn their attention to ‘madrigal comedies’ by 16th-century Alessandro Striggio and his younger contemporary, Adriano Banchieri. These are highly entertaining, often witty pieces, with a strong onomatopoeic element and a profusion of vividly depictive images running through them.

Gloriously alert and full-bodied playing produces a disc that is just waiting to be enjoyed… The music is unmistakably , of course, but ranges from brilliant violin figuration to creamy slow-drawn chords, and from vocal transcriptions to short fugues (and what enjoyable fugues, too!). The cumulative effect of it all is like visiting a workshop and finding there examples of all the things an artist might do when freed from the demands of a particular public. ’s performances cannot be faulted. has a knack for vital and exciting music-making that is utterly straightforward and free from overworked mannerism. It is a difficult balance to achieve, but here it is allied to playing that is gloriously alert and full-bodied. This disc is just waiting to be enjoyed, so go on – it might bring you closer to as well!

A challenge to the virtuoso. While they belong to the German tradition, in these sonatas Bach invented a curious division of the parts in which the viola da gamba lies midway between the bass and the principle voice (the treble) of the harpsichord. This particularity in the writing and their exceptional ingenuity place these works among the great masterpieces in the viola da gamba repertoire, both fascinating and terrifying to performers…

La célèbre épopée biblique relatant le meurtre d’Abel par Caïn est connue de tous, mais la mise en scène qu’Alessandro Scarlatti lui a dédiée l’est beaucoup moins. Thème récurant pour les oratorios italiens au XVIIe siècle, le sujet est traité ici à la manière d’une histoire policière. Avec un effectif musical réduit, il nous transporte dans un univers baroque étourdissant. Les accents lyriques sont d’une expressivité rare tandis que l’orchestre, faisant preuve de beaucoup de psychologie, exulte. Par bonheur, la prise de son est à l’avenant. Les divers plans sonores sont respectés avec une très belle transparence et une foule de détails sur les voix et sur les instruments.

Sara Mingardo has been creating quite a stir in baroque circles but this is my first chance to catch up with her. In one sense she may be considered a "typical" baroque singer, in the sense that she uses a completely straight vocal production, from which vibrato has been rigorously excluded, and cultivates a somewhat plangent, nasal sound, with the result that a casual listener might suppose he was listening to a counter-tenor.