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CD reviews
"Stagioni d'amore"
BernVocal
Dir: Fritz Krämer
rec: June 28 - July 1, 2019, Arlesheim (CH), Reformierte Kirche
Passacaille - PAS 1110 (© 2021) (70'54")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - translations: E
Cover & track-list
Spotify
[in order of appearance]
Biagio MARINI (1594-1663):
La lagrime d'Erminia (Senza Tancredi viva)a [3]
[Primavera]
Biagio MARINI:
Balletto secondo (entrata) [8];
Giovanni ROVETTA (c1595-1668):
Venga dal ciel migliore [5];
Biagio MARINI:
Augelino volante [7];
Giovanni VALENTINI (c1582-1649):
Ecco maggio seren [1]
[Estate]
Biagio MARINI:
Balletto secondo (balletto) [8];
Giovanni VALENTINI:
Fra bianchi gigli [2];
Biagio MARINI:
Balletto secondo (gagliarda) [8];
Ridon le piagge [4]
[Autunno]
Giovanni ROVETTA:
Voi partite crudele? [5];
Biagio MARINI:
Donna, mi chiami infido [4];
Balletto secondo (corrente) [8];
Tu pur partisti [4]
[Inverno]
Biagio MARINI:
Torna l'inverno, frigido [6];
Tirinto mio [4];
Giovanni ROVETTA:
Tutto lieto cantai [5];
Biagio MARINI:
Balletto secondo (pretirata) [8]
Sources:
Giovanni Valentini, [1] Secondo libro de madrigali (...) concertati con voci, et istromenti, 1616;
[2] Musiche concertate con voci, et istromenti, 1619;
Biagio Marini, [3] Le lagrime d'Erminia in stile recitativo, op. 6, 1623;
[4] Concerti per le musiche di camera, op. 7, 1634;
[5] Giovanni Rovetta, Madrigali concertati, libro secondo, op. 6, 1640;
Biagio Marini, [6] Compositione varie per musica di camera, op. 13, 1641;
[7] Concerto terzo delle musiche da camera, op. 16, 1649;
[8] Per ogni sorte di strumento musicale diversi generi di sonate, da chiesa, e da camera, op. 22, 1655
Hana Blažíková (soloa), Barbora Kabátková, soprano;
Jan Börner, alto;
Michael Feyfar, Raphael Höhn, tenor;
Markus Flaig, bass
Franciska Hajdu, Anna Noelle Amstutz, violin;
Sara Gómez Yunta, viola;
Julien Léonard, viola da gamba;
Armin Bereuter, viola da gamba, violone;
Rosario Conte, theorbo;
Antonio Greco, harpsichord, organ
In the course of history, many poets and composers have been inspired by Nature, and in particular the four seasons. Antonio Vivaldi's four concertos with the title Le Quattro Stagioni, based on poems probably of his own pen, are just one example. However, the seasons could also be used as a metaphor for the stages of love, and that is the explanation of this disc's title.
The programme recorded by BernVocal is inspired by the Italian poet Cesare Orsini (1571-1640), who in his Epistole amorose (1619), addressed to his mistress Cinzia, compares his feelings to Nature's seasons. "The first rays of the spring sun remind him of his first encounter with Cinzia, and she herself is compared to spring - (female in Italian) la primavera - the season that enlivens and fills his heart and everything around him with joy. The beloved's departure in sad autumnal colours, as separation from Cinzia is tantamount to the death of all living things" (booklet). And death on its turn is often depicted with the metaphor of winter.
"Nature as described by the poet (...) is but a projection of his inner world. (...) Orsini's Arcadia exists only in his imagination (...)", Ksenia Nogovitsyna writes in the liner-notes. The reference to Arcadia is interesting here, as this imaginary world was what was to become the ideal of the higher echelons of society during the baroque era, which found its expression from the late 17th century onwards in the accademie. There cantatas were performed whose texts transported the listeners to the Arcadian world of shepherds and nymphs. The members elected a name which also reflects that idealized world. Its roots are in the renaissance: Jacopo Sannazaro (1458-1530) wrote his poem Arcadia in 1480 and published it in 1504.
The programme brings together madrigals about the various stages of love by three Italian composers from the first half of the 17th century. Biagio Marini was one of the main representatives of the stile nuovo which emerged around 1600. He was born in Brescia and educated as a violinist. His first position was that as violinist in St Mark's in Venice in 1615. During his career he worked at many places, such as Parma, Neuburg an der Donau, Brussels, Milan, Bergamo, Düsseldorf and Ferrara. He moved back and forth between various cities, which tells us much about his reputation. Marini was also prolific composer. His Op. 1 was printed in 1617, his Op. 22 in 1655. The latter collection is the source of the instrumental pieces included here.
Giovanni Valentini was possibly from Venice; he was educated as a keyboard player. In the first decade of the 17th century he worked as organist at the royal court in Poland, and then moved to Graz, where he entered the service of Archduke Ferdinand, who was to become Emperor in 1619 (Ferdinand II). In 1626 he succeeded Giovanni Priuli as the Emperor's Kapellmeister. Under his successor, Ferdinand III, he was involved in the production of the earliest operas.
Giovanni Rovetta was certainly from Venice. Although there is no documentary evidence of it, he may have been a choirboy at St Mark's, where his father played the violin between 1614 and 1641. Giovanni first appeared as a player in the cappella in 1614. Until the end of his life he was connected in one way or the other with St Mark's. In 1623 he was appointed a bass singer and in 1627 he succeeded Alessandro Grandi as assistant maestro di cappella to Claudio Monteverdi, whom he succeeded after the latter's death in 1643. In his capacity as composer he wrote mostly sacred music.
None of these composers has become known for their secular vocal music. In the case of Rovetta and Valentini it is almost exclusively their sacred music that has been recorded, and Marini has become best-known for his instrumental works. That alone makes this disc an important contribution to our knowledge of this stage in music history. However, it is also the way the madrigals are presented here which is highly interesting, as I have already indicated above. The programme is divided into four chapters, each of them devoted to a season. The programme opens with a fragment from Marini's Le lagrime d'Erminia, a monologue for soprano with basso continuo, which was meant to be performed at the stage. It is included here - but not ranked among one of the seasons - because Erminia, the heroine of Tarquato Tasso's poem Gerusalemme liberata, is tormented by unrequited love for her enemy Tancredi. "She mourns her unhappy fate alone in the midst of joyous nature".
Each chapter comprises four pieces: three madrigals and one instrumental dance (called here balletto) from Marini's Op. 55; Summer (Estate) has two madrigals and two balletti. Such dances also open and close the cycle of pieces. The madrigals are of the concertato genre as the titles of various collections indicate, most clearly Rovetta's Madrigali concertati. This means that instruments play an independent role; they either support the voices or they play ritornellos between the stanzas. The number of voices varies, but is not indicated. Two pieces are duets: Rovetta's Voi partite crudele? is sung by the two sopranos, Torna l'ínverno, frigido by the two tenors.
As one may expect in pieces written in the modern style, in which words come first, there are quite a number of madrigalisms - illustrations of words or phrases. At the start of Marini's Augelino volante about thirty seconds are devoted to the illustration of the fluttering of the bird. In Valentini's madrigal Ecco maggio seren the words "al ballo" (come and dance) are vividly depicted; no listener will miss what is expressed here. And Marini does not overlook the opportunity to illustrate the laughing of the hills in the opening phrase of Ridon le piagge.
The ideal of the time was the expression of affetti. Madrigalisms help to do that, and other means are harmony and dynamics. In order to make them being heard and felt, one needs voices that avoid vibrato, and a perfect intonation. That is the case here. Also important is dynamic differentation, and the use of in particular the messa di voce. Again, that is what is delivered here. This results in a quite fascinating sequence of madrigals of different character and content, each of which comes off to maximum effect. Hana Blaziková is marvellous in her performance of Le lagrime d'Erminia.
This disc is probably the best recording of this kind of repertoire that I have heard in recent years. The concept is original and makes much sense, and the performances are just perfect. This disc will definitely make it into my list of recordings of the year.
Johan van Veen (© 2022)
Relevant links:
BernVocal