Performers: Elena Cecchi Fedi (soprano), Roberta Invernizzi (soprano), Roberto Balconi (countertenor), Daniela Del Monaco (contralto), Gian Paolo Fagotto (tenor), Giuseppe Zambon (tenor), Giovanni Dagnino (bass), Pablo Valetti (violin), Carla Marotta (violin), Andrea Albertani (viola), Gaetano Nasillo (violoncello piccolo), Andrea Fossà (cello), Mara Galassi (harp), Pier Luigi Ciapparelli (theorbo), Alan Curtis (spinet).
Playing time: 71'
Recording date: September 1994
The present recording was a landmark in interpreting Gesualdo's madrigals, based as it was on new research by Alan Curtis. The tuning employed is brilliantly satisfying, linking the various chords employed in purely tonal ways. The result is a set of pitches richer than 12-to-an-octave, to accommodate pure intervals in various modulations. Obviously, Curtis' involvement with the contemporary keyboard instruments of more than 12 keys to an octave is a contributing factor to his view of this vocal music. It is crucial to understand that the resulting "microtonal" relationships do not lead to more dissonance, but rather to a greater purity of interval throughout the piece.
This view is reflected in later interpretations by Italian ensembles.
Note: In at least some printings of the CD, the ensemble name is given as Il Complesso Barocco.
Another recording by the present ensemble, largely devoted to the later but also-eccentric composer Sigismondo D'India (c.1582-1629):
Other recordings of madrigals directed by Alan Curtis:
Besides Gesualdo's exploration of the extremes of madrigal harmony, keyboard music in Naples during this era was also developed in highly chromatic directions. A fine recording:
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Todd M. McComb