Voci

A tribute to Italian Baroque, Antonio Caldara and his Gloria a 8 voci, transcribed, performed and recorded for the first time ever, a masterpiece of pompous Venetian sacredness to which the wonderful Lauda by Ottorino Respighi was wanted to be juxtaposed. Two centuries later, the Bolognese composer gives a perfect example of rewriting together medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music. A way to reaffirm the strong bond between Baroque and the 20th century, always a source of great inspiration.

The vocal ensemble A Sei Voci is based in the French city of Sablé-sur-Sarthe and was founded in 1977. The name, naturally, is so given as the group uniformly consists of six regular member voices, although other singers and instrumentalists are added as each project they undertake may require. A Sei Voci was founded with the purpose of recovering vocal works from the Baroque and Renaissance periods that were not yet revived or otherwise known to the public.

This is a set of six previously-released CDs of mostly sacred music by Josquin and his contemporaries. Here you will also find music thought to be by Josquin and Johannes Martini, Eneas Dupré, Elzéar Genet Carpentras, and music (mis)attributed to them in various ways. It’s a splendid set – full of vigour and sophisticated music-making - and can be safely recommended.

This 1994 disc is something of a classic of the new strain of the historical-performance movement, which is characterized by a certain amount of license to speculate in the reconstruction of lost works. The Miserere mei Deus of Gregorio Allegri is, of course, not a lost work, but one with an unbroken performance tradition stretching back to its composition in the early seventeenth century (before 1638). It was sung for centuries at the Sistine Chapel, where the singers were enjoined from circulating the music beyond Vatican walls. That prohibition wasn't enough to stop the 12-year-old Mozart, who wrote most of it down by ear as a tourist in Rome and filled in the gaps on a quick return visit; soon after that, British music writer Charles Burney got hold of either Mozart's copy (which hasn't survived) or another one and published the work.

Pietro Paolo Bencini (1675? -1755) was one of the most important figures in the musical life of Rome in the eighteenth century. His sacred music is on the same level as that of Alessandro Scarlatti. This is evident from the fact that much of his music can be found in copies even outside Europe. The most important part of his oeuvre is in the collection of the 'Cappella Guilia', now the library of the Vatican. Bencini worked as 'maestro di cappella' in the basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso and from 1743 in St. Peter's of Rome; an important job. His style is festive, full of contrasts and smooth melodic lines.

Gesualdo is now known to have composed some of the most intensely expressive music ever written – and is also known for the lurid details of his private life. The French ensemble A Sei Voci has rich-toned voices which illuminate this extraordinary music; this release is among the ‘second generation’ of Gesualdo recordings following the pioneering work of the Deller Consort in the 1970s. Their success paved the way for a wider recognition of Gesualdo’s genius in the 1990s.

Marc-Antonio Ingegneri - Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae - A Sei Voci (1990) {2CD Set Adda 581129~130}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 567 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 300 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 55 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1990 Adda | 581129~130
Classical / Renaissance / Choral / Sacred

Marc' Antonio Ingegneri was one of the leading northern Italian madrigal composers toward the end of the Renaissance era in music. His family background is difficult to ascertain; they might have originated in Venice, made fairly likely since his mother had the well-known Venetian family name of Foscari, and there was also an Ingegneri family in Venice. Marc' Antonio was a choir boy at Verona Cathedral and therefore was probably a student of the maestro di cappella there, Vincenzo Ruffo. The dedication of one of Ingegneri's madrigal books said he personally received his tuition from Cipriano de Rore, a great composer who lived and taught in Parma.

Philippe Herreweghe records his third disc devoted to a controversial figure in the world of music and art in general: Carlo Gesualdo, who had his wife murdered and is suspected of having his son smothered. This time Collegium Vocale Gent performs his fifth book of madrigals (1611), published two years before his death. A collection that even today contributes to the eternal debate: to what extent does art become impregnated with reality, and how can it be appreciated when it emanates from a mind living so close to horror? Here the bold dissonances and sometimes tortured expressiveness that can be perceived in his harmonic language offer food for thought. Can we speak of redemption through art for a murderous composer in the twilight of his life?