Gesualdo: Il Quarto Libro di Madrigali

Gesualdo: Il Quarto Libro di Madrigali, 1596: La Venexiana - Claudio Cavina
Glossa 920907
Glossa 920934

Luci serene e chiare (5 voices)
Tal'hor sano desio (5 voices)
Io tacerò ma nel silentio (5 voices)
In van dunque o crudele (seconda parte)
Che fai meco mio cor (5 voices)
Sento che nel partire (voice, 2 lutes)
Questa crudele e pia (5 voices)
Or che in gioia (5 voices)
O sempre crudo Amore (seconda parte)
Cor mio deh non piangete (5 voices)
Dunque non m'offendete (seconda parte)
Canzon francese del Principe (harpsichord)
Sparge la morte al mio (5 voices)
Moro, e mentre sospiro (5 voices)
Quando di lui la sospirata vita (seconda parte)
Mentre gira costei (5 voices)
A voi, mentre il mio core (5 voices)
Ecco, morirò dunque (5 voices)
Ahi, già mi discoloro (seconda parte)
Se taccio il duol s'avanza (voice, 2 lutes)
Arde il mio cor (5 voices)
Se chiudete nel core (5 voices)
Il sol qual or più splende (5 voices)
Volgi, mia luce (seconda parte)
Mercè grido piangendo (5 voices)

Performers: Rossana Bertini (soprano), Emanuela Galli (soprano), Lucia Sciannimanico (mezzosoprano), Claudio Cavina (countertenor), Giuseppe Maletto (tenor), Sandro Naglia (tenor), Daniele Carnovich (bass), Franco Pavan (lute), Gabriele Palomba (lute), Fabio Bonizzoni (harpsichord)

Playing time: 68'

Recording date: March 2000 (Roletto)

Tracks Nos. 5 (second book), 9 (originally from Glossa 921501), 15 (second book), and 19 (fifth book) do not belong to Gesualdo's fourth book of madrigals and are labeled as "bonus" tracks.

The present book does not include the same level of daring as Gesualdo ultimately undertook in his fifth & sixth books, but is nonetheless a critical step in this evolution.

Although the musical quality of Gesualdo's output is an issue which seems to undergo periodic shifts in fashion, it has certainly remained the subject of some interest for its unusual progressions. More recent scholarship does stress the stylistic connections Gesualdo's madrigals have with those of his contemporaries, and indeed Gesualdo's music can be seen as old-fashioned for its continued contrapuntal (rather than chordal) emphasis and for its reluctance to embrace continuo.

In any case, Gesualdo's music has received a great deal of attention.

The next recording by the present ensemble:

Gesualdo: Il Quinto Libro di Madrigali, 1611: La Venexiana - Claudio Cavina
Glossa 920935

Other significant recordings devoted to Gesualdo:

Gesualdo / Maione: Tribulationem: Mottetti, Madrigali e Capricci
Concerto Soave - Jean-Marc Aymes
Zig-Zag Territoires 319 [CDx2]
Gesualdo: O dolorosa gioia: Madrigali dai Libro Quinto e Sesto
Concerto Italiano - Rinaldo Alessandrini
Opus 111 30-238
Gesualdo: Libro Sesto delli Madrigali (1613): I Febi Armonici - Alan Curtis
Symphonia 94133
Gesualdo: Quinto Libro dei Madrigali (1611): Consort of Musicke - Anthony Rooley
L'Oiseau Lyre 410 128
Gesualdo: Madrigals, books 3-6: Les Arts Florissants - William Christie
Harmonia Mundi 901268
Gesualdo: Libro IV de' madrigali a cinque voci (1596): Ensemble Arte-Musica - Francesco Cera
Tactus 560701
Gesualdo: Madrigeaux - Livre V: Métamorphoses - Maurice Bourbon
Arion 68388
Gesualdo: Madrigals and Motets from Renaissance Naples: Gesualdo Consort - Gerald Place
AS&V "Quicksilva" 6210
Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libri 1-3: Gesualdo Consort - Harry Van Der Kamp
CPO 777 138 (2 CDs)
Gesualdo: I Tormenti d'Amore: Claritas - James Grossmith
Etcetera 1215
Gesualdo: Madrigali, Libro I: Sergio Vartolo et al.
Brilliant Classics 92635

Gesualdo: Il Quarto Libro di Madrigali

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