Gesualdo: Libro Sesto delli Madrigali

Gesualdo: Libro Sesto delli Madrigali (1613)
I Febi Armonici - Alan Curtis
Symphonia 94133 [CD]
Pan Classics 10229 [CD]

Contents:

  1. Se la mia morte brami
  2. Beltà poi che t'assenti
  3. Tu piangi ò Fille mia
  4. Resta di darmi noia
  5. Chiaro risplender suole
  6. Io parto e non più dissi
  7. Mille volte il dì moro
  8. O dolce mio tesoro (instrumental)
  9. Deh come in van sospiro
  10. Io pur respiro
  11. Alme d'amor rubelle (instrumental)
  12. Candido e verde fiore (instrumental)
  13. Ardita zanzaretta
  14. Ardo per te mio bene
  15. Ancide sol la morte (instrumental)
  16. Quel nò crudel (instrumental)
  17. Moro al mio duolo
  18. Volan quasi farfalle (instrumental)
  19. Al mio gioir il ciel si fa sereno
  20. Tu segui ò bella Clori
  21. Anchor che per amarti
  22. Già piansi nel dolore
  23. Quando ridente e bella

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):

D'India: Silvio e Dorinda
E la monodie su poesia del Petrarca - D'India / Monteverdi / Marenzio
I Febi Armonici - Alan Curtis
Symphonia 93S25

Other recordings of madrigals directed by Alan Curtis:

Rossi: Madrigali
Il compleso barocco - Alan Curtis
Virgin Veritas 45220
Lotti: La vita caduca
Il compleso barocco - Alan Curtis
Virgin Veritas 45221
Zefiro Torna
Monteverdi: Duets, Vol. 1
Il compleso barocco - Alan Curtis
Virgin Veritas 45293
Amor dicea
Monteverdi: Duets, Vol. 2
Il compleso barocco - Alan Curtis
Virgin Veritas 45302
Ferrari: Il Sansone
Il compleso barocco - Alan Curtis
Virgin Veritas 45415
Ziani: Assalonne Punito
Il compleso barocco - Alan Curtis
Stradivarius Dulcimer 33548
La Notte d'Amore
Music for the marriage of Cosimo II Medici & Maria Maddalena d'Austria
Il compleso barocco - Alan Curtis
Stradivarius Dulcimer 33636

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:

Il Cimbalo Cromatico Napoletano
Alan Curtis
Nuova Era 7177

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Todd M. McComb