Dolce World

Even when music is notated relatively precisely, as in music, a performer must make many decisions because the notation does not specify all elements of the music. The process of deciding how to perform music that has been previously composed and notated is called "interpretation". Interpretations of the same piece of music by different performers can be very different in terms of the tempos chosen, the style of playing or singing, or the phrasing of the melodies. Composers and songwriters who perform their own music interpret their songs in the same way as those who perform the music of others. The standard choices and techniques available at a particular time and place are referred to as performance practice, while interpretation generally refers to the individual choices of a performer.

Jonas Kaufmann is a German tenor who made his solo album debut in 2008 after establishing himself as an international opera superstar. Born on July 10, 1969, in Munich, Germany, he studied locally at the Musikhochschule and made his major performance debut nationally in Saarbrücken in 1994. In later years he would perform in some of the world's most prestigious theaters, including Covent Garden (London), Bastille Opera (Paris), La Scala (Milan), and Metropolitan Opera (New York).

Philippe Herreweghe, respected elder of the early choral music world, directs a pared-down version of his choir Collegium Vocale Gent in delectably careful performances of music that in less careful hands can sound plain crazy. The slippery harmonies of Carlo Gesualdo’s sixth book of madrigals, written in 1611 but sounding centuries ahead of their time, are nailed down with the sharpest, slenderest of pins thanks to the perfect tuning and clear tone of Herreweghe’s ensemble. One to each line, the singers maintain a finely balanced blend, emerging briefly as soloists at moments of emphasis. Some may find the ambience a bit churchified for these texts, in which images of frolicking cupids are heavily outweighed by the laments of unbedded lovers miserably invoking death; but the performances are full of subtle nuance, and you’re unlikely to hear passages such as the end of Io Pur Respiro, with its sliding, viscous harmonies, better done.