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CD reviews
"John Coprario - Parrot or Ingenious Parodist?"
Pluto-Ensemble (Marnix De Cat)
Hathor Consort (Romina Lischka)
rec: Nov 23 - 25, 2020, Antwerp, deSingel
Ramée - RAM 2107 (© 2022) (51'10")
Liner-notes: E/D/F; lyrics - translations: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
Spotify
[in order of appearance]
Alfonso FERRABOSCO I (1543-1588):
Come dal ciel;
John COPRARIO (c1570-1626):
Fantasia 6;
Giovanni Pierluigi DA PALESTRINA (c1525-1595):
Io son ferito, ahi lasso;
John COPRARIO:
Fantasia 2;
John WARD (1571-1638):
Fantasia Cor mio;
Thomas LUPO (1571-1627):
Fantasia Il vago;
Giovanni DE MACQUE (c1548-1614):
Il vago e lieto aspetto;
Claudio MONTEVERDI (1567-1643):
Vattene pur, crudel, con quella pace (SV 67) (Seconda parte: La tra 'l sangue e le morti);
Richard MICO (1590-1661):
Fantasia Latral;
Luca MARENZIO (1553/54/1599):
O voi che sospirate a miglior note;
John COPRARIO:
Fantasia O voi che sospirate;
Luca MARENZIO:
Crudel, perché mi fuggi;
Felice ANERIO (1560-1640):
Caggia fuoco dal cielo;
Thomas MORLEY (1557/58-1602):
Fantasia La caccia;
Baldassare DONATO (c1530-1603):
Fuggi se sai fuggir;
Orazio VECCHI (1550-1605):
Gitene Ninfe;
John COPRARIO:
Fantasia Gitene Ninfe;
Thomas LUPO:
Fantasia O che vezzosa;
Orazio VECCHI:
O che vezzosa Aurora;
Luca MARENZIO:
Udite, lagrimosi Spirti d'Averno;
John COPRARIO:
Fantasia Udite, lagrimosi spirti
[P-E]
Hannah Morrison, Lieselot De Wilde, soprano;
Marnix De Cat, alto;
Hugo Hymas, Tore Tom Denys, tenor;
Harry van der Kamp, bass
[HC]
Romina Lischlka, Liam Fennelly, Thomas Baeté, Irene Klein, Joshuan Cheatham, Nicholas Milne, viola da gamba
Throughout music history compostions have been arranged in many different ways. Sometimes composers took a composition as it had been written and adapted it for a different scoring, sometimes adding something of their own. Others went further and expanded a piece in such a way that it became something different. Copyright did not exist, and using material of a colleague or of a composer of a previous generation was generally considered a token of appreciation.
The disc under review sheds light on arrangements by an English composer from around 1600, whose name suggests that he was of Italian birth. However, he was baptized as John Cooper or Cowper, and later italianized his name. The reasons are not known for sure; there is no documentary evidence that he has ever been in Italy. It does indicate that he admired the Italian style, which is confirmed by his oeuvre. He composed a few Italian madrigals as well as two song cycles on English texts, which reflect the Italian style. The present disc is devoted to a particularly interesting part of his oeuvre. He composed a number of fantasias - although that is not how they are called - on Italian madrigals. According to New Grove, they may be termed as 'instrumental madrigals'.
This production is not without some problems. The title suggests that this recording is devoted to Coprario, but the programme includes only five pieces by him. It is a shame that the liner-notes give no information whatsoever about the other composers in the programme. They are written by Silke Leopold, a German musicologist who is a specialist in Italian music of the 16th and 17th centuries. It seems she has written them without exactly knowing what was going to be recorded. One question one would like to have answered is whether we know for sure which madrigals the titles of Coprario's 'instrumental madrigals' refer to. The programme is constructed in such a way that we first hear a madrigal and then an instrumental version; in some cases it is the other way around. Sometimes the similarity between the madrigal and the instrumental version is immediately clear, but in other cases they are harder to connect, for instance due to a difference in tempo.
One may also wondering about the inclusion of some pieces. An example is the madrigal Cor mio by John Ward. It is a piece of consort music, to which - as far as I have been able to find out - includes the text (which was frequently set by Italian composers) as an underlay to the bass part. Here it is performed as a genuine madrigal. This piece is one of several consort pieces with Italian titles in Ward's oeuvre, which indicates that Coprario was not the only composer who wrote 'instrumental madrigals'. Others are Thomas Lupo and Richard Mico. The inclusion of these pieces puts Coprario's fantasias in their historical perspective, and it is a missed opportunity that this is not accompanied by liner-notes which do the same.
Putting these considerations apart, this is a very interesting and musically compelling disc which sheds light on an aspect of English renaissance music that does not receive much attention. It is often thought that English music life was pretty strongly isolated from what happened elsewhere. That is far from the truth. Italian madrigals were known and appreciated in England from the last quarter of the 16th century onwards. It resulted in a substantial amount of English madrigals, which - as I observed in a recent review of a recording of madrigals by Weser-Renaissance BremenWilbye - are not often performed and recorded. One can only hope that with time this is going to change. Coprario, to stick with him, also composed a number of three-part villanellas, and it should be interesting to hear them.
As far as the performances are concerned, there is nothing to complain whatsoever. The Pluto-Ensemble and the Hathor Consort work together frequently, and it is a perfect combination of voices and instruments, acting at the same wavelength. The vocal ensemble fully explores the expressive features of the Italian madrigals, and the Hathor Consort can compete with the best in the business, producing a warm and dynamically differentiated sound. The length of this disc, with a little over 50 minutes, is also a bit disappointing; I would have liked to hear more. It should not withhold anyone interested in this repertoire from purchasing it.
Johan van Veen (© 2023)
Relevant links:
Pluto-Ensemble
Hathor Consort