musica Dei donum
CD reviews
"Voglio cantar"
Emöke Baráth, soprano
Il Pomo d'Oro
Dir: Francesco Corti
rec: June 17 - 20, 2018, Lonigo, Villa San Fermo
Erato - 090295632212 (© 2019) (80'00")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - translations: E/D/F
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores Strozzi
Spotify
Francesco CAVALLI (1602-1676):
Canzon ŕ 3;
Statira, principessa di Persia, drama per musica (1665) (sinfonia; Alba, ch'imperli fiori - Amor, che mascherasti; Cresce il foco, avvampa il core; Vanne intrepido);
Antonio CESTI (1623-1669):
Speranza ingannatrice;
Biagio MARINI (1594-1663):
Sinfonia grave La Zorzi;
Sonata sopra Fuggi dolente core;
Tarquinio MERULA (1595-1665):
Ballo detto Eccardo;
Barbara STROZZI (1619-1677):
Amante loquace;
Che si puň fare;
Il Lamento (Sul Rodano severo);
L'Astratto;
Lamento (Lagrime mie);
Mi fa rider la speranza
Sources:
[1] Biagio Marini, Affetti musicali, op. 1, 1617;
[2] Tarquinio Merula, Canzoni overo Sonate concertate per chiesa e camera, op. 12, 1637;
[3] Barbara Strozzi, Cantate, ariette e duetti, op. 2, 1651;
[4] Biagio Marini, Per ogni sorte di strumento musicale diversi generi di sonate, da chiesa, e da camera, Libro III, op. 22, 1655;
[5] Francesco Cavalli, Musiche sacre, 1656;
Barbara Strozzi, [6] Ariette a voce sola, op. 6, 1657;
[7] Diporti di Euterpe, overo Cantate e ariette a voce sola, op. 7, 1659;
[8] Ariette a voce sola, op. 8, 1664
Stefano Rossi, Lathika Vithanage, violin;
Rodney Prada, viola da gamba;
Felix Knecht, cello;
Riccardo Coelati, violone;
Marta Graziolino, harp;
Michele Pasotti, theorbo, guitar;
Miguel Rincón Rodriguez, archlute, guitar;
Francesco Corti, harpsichord;
Luca Quintavalle, harpsichord, organ
Barbara Strozzi is one of the most remarkable composers of the 17th century. That is not because she was a woman: there were more women who were active as composers and even published their compositions. But almost all of them were residents of a convent and composed sacred music which they wrote first and foremost for liturgical use in their own convent. Barbara Strozzi's oeuvre almost exclusively comprises secular music. She was also active as a singer, although in private circles, not in public concerts and not on the stage, for instance in an opera.
Her oeuvre is highly dramatic in character. That is certainly due to the fact that she was educated in composition by Francesco Cavalli, who would become the most famous Venetian opera composer after the death of Monteverdi. The man who took care of her, and very likely her biological father, Giulio Strozzi, had also strong ties with opera: he was a poet who wrote a large number of opera librettos which were set by the main composers of his time. He was also largely responsible for Barbara's career. He founded the Accademia degli Unisoni, a kind of literary academy, which gave her the chance to perform, certainly mostly her own compositions, and to listen to the deliberations of its members, especially about artistic matters.
Barbara Strozzi published her first collection of music in 1644: madrigals for two to five voices and basso continuo. It was followed by seven books of pieces, mostly for solo voice and basso continuo. The first was the Op. 2 which appeared in 1651 and the last the Op. 8 which dates from 1664. Only one of these books comprised sacred works: the Op. 5 of 1655. Most of the texts were written specifically for her; about half of them are anonymous.
Strozzi was very much concerned about the form of her compositions, which were called arie, ariette or cantate. She sometimes took strophic poems but often treated them with considerable freedom, probably driven by the wish to translate the affetti of the text as accurately and effectively as possible. In free texts - mostly divided into a number of sections of different length and character - Strozzi tries to create some formal unity by repeating lines or sections. An example of such a piece is Lagrime mie which opens with the lines: "Oh my tears, why do you not fall? Why do you not release the cruel pain which steals my breath and burdens my heart?" This is repeated at the end, and halfway the first of these lines is inserted. This way it works like a kind of refrain.
Strozzi uses various devices to express the emotions in the text and to create dramatic contrasts. One of these is a remarkable range of the solo part, which attests to her own skills as a singer. Others are shifts in meter and tempo, contrasts between measured and unmeasured passages as well as the juxtaposition of episodes in a purely monodic style - ŕ la Caccini - and more lyrical passages, such as we find them in the operas of Cavalli. Che si puň fare ends very abruptly, illustrating the words "he will stumble and fall". In this piece we also find passages of a recitativic character, which point to the future.
Strozzi did not compose an opera, but some of her arias are dramatic in an almost operatic way. L'Astratto is a good example. The protagonist is a man who wants to sing in order to dispel the pain of unrequited love. In the first part he several times starts to sing an aria, but then interrupts himself in recitativic style. "My heart by fair tresses was bound one day... I'd rip this song out; as soon as I turn to this page it reminds me of my unhappiness". This way Strozzi creates a kind of inner dialogue. The second part of this piece is then a full-blooded aria, and the piece ends with an ironic conclusion: "Wretch and fool that I am (...), despite not wanting to sing, I've sung a great deal".
Dramatic in a different way is Il Lamento, about Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis de Cinq-Mars, who was a favourite of the French king Louis XIII and was executed in Lyon in 1642 for leading a conspiracy against Cardinal Richelieu. This piece is included in the Op. 2 and again in the Op. 3, which may be an indication that it was one of Strozzi's favourite pieces. The lament of Henri is preceded by an explanation of a narrator: "On the banks of the pitiless Rhone lies the wretched, heeadless body of the Grand Squire of France". The narrator returns at the end: "At these words (...) Louis quakes with fear and sees the dead youth's face before his eyes".
There is certainly no lack of recordings of Barbara Strozzi's oeuvre. Several of the pieces included here are also part of previous recordings. Obviously, that goes for some of her most brilliant pieces, as Il Lamento and L'Astratto. However, in the present programme we also find some lesser-known items. I don't know if any of them is recorded here for the first time, but at least I can't remember having heard, for instance, Mi fa rider la speranza or Amante loquace before. Another feature which sets this disc apart, is that Strozzi's oeuvre is put here into its historical context. The inclusion of fragments from Cavalli's opera Statira is particularly nice, considering that he was Strozzi's teacher and clearly influenced her attention to the dramatic possibilities of a text. This opera seems never to have been recorded complete.
An important contemporary was Antonio Cesti, who was born in Arezzo, where he started his musical activities as a choirboy in the cathedral. He joined the Franciscan order at Volterra in 1637. In 1634 he became organist at the cathedral of Volterra and soon after also maestro di cappella. At some moment he came under the patronage of the Medici family in Florence. He had strong ties with several people and circles in that city. Despite his appointments as a church musician the core of his activities was in the field of opera. Here we get a cantata, Speranza ingannatrice. It is another piece about an unhappy lover. The fourth and sixth sections are very similar: "But sadly I know you / But sadly I recognize you, I know your smiles are tears and your honey is poison / I know your honey is poison and your smiles are tears".
In between the vocal items we hear instrumental pieces by some of the main composers of the time: Biagio Marini and Tarquinio Merula, as well as one of the very few instrumental works from the pen of Cavalli.
For the reasons I mentioned this is a disc to be welcomed by lovers of Strozzi and her time. Emöke Baráth has a good feeling for the dramatic aspects of Strozzi's music and does well in Cavalli. That is probably not that surprising, given that she is a regular participant in performances of baroque operas. She seems to master the art of recitar cantando: her singing is declamatory when that is required, the text is mostly clearly understandable and the affetti come off rather well. The receives good support from the members of Il Pomo d'Oro, whose performances are stylish and who fully explore the contrasts within the instrumental works. There is one major reason why I find it hard to unequivocally recommend this disc. Emöke Baráth's incessant vibrato makes it hard to really enjoy this disc. Despite all the qualities I mentioned, for me this is a real stumbling block. Those who don't care very much about this should add this disc to their collection. However, if you value a true baroque style of singing, this disc is hard to swallow.
Johan van Veen (© 2020)
Relevant links:
Emöke Baráth
Il Pomo d'Oro