The Madrigal Reimagined - effortless virtuosity and informative expertise from the Monteverdi String Band and friends

Oliver Webber, Director of the Monteverdi String Band has been a frequent visitor to Brighton Early Music Festival, in particular bringing the band to several early opera productions at the festival. Both soprano Hannah Ely and lutenist Toby Carr are also familiar to us in Brighton. Ely is artistic director of the Fieri Consort, and regularly sings with Musica Secreta and Collegium Vocale Gent, amongst others. Toby Carr performs with many early music ensembles, including Ensemble Augelletti and Ceruleo, as well as performing as a soloist and continuo player, recently recording an award winning album with Helen Charlston. Webber’s last recording focussed on virtuosic violin ornamentation in the early Italian Baroque (read my review here), and for his latest disc, he and the band are joined by Ely and Carr for an exploration of the madrigal, and how it was reinvented and transformed from a purely vocal setting into works for solo voice with accompaniment, and into instrumental works. Alongside this is the part that virtuosic ornamentation, both vocal and instrumental, had to play in pushing the boundaries of the form. 

The Madrigal Reimagined is a fascinating programme of vocal, solo instrumental and ensemble pieces from the late sixteenth century, ending with a demonstration of how the madrigal form and style fed into early opera, in a brief selection of highlights from Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. Ely delivers the Prologue and two key arias (Ahi caso acerbo and Ma io ch’in questa lingua) with clarity and drama, capturing the intensity of the emotion in this chamber rendition. The string Sinfonias are suitably plaintive, emphasised in the rich yet mournful lower registers, yet Vanne Orfeo, with its bright, falling soprano lines, and the cheerful, spirited dance bring the disc to a nonetheless cheerful conclusion.

 

But before that, we have the delights of Rore, Caccini, Cavaliere and Malvezzi, amongst others. Cipriano de Rore’s (c.1515-1565) Anchor che col partire is heard first in a lute transcription, with Toby Carr bringing out its doleful delicacy, and managing to make the melodic lines sing. Then Carr is joined by Ely, who brings an aching beauty to the vocal line, with effortless diminutions (ornamentation consisting of breaking the melodic line into groups of shorter, often rapid notes), written by Giovanni Battista Bovicelli (1545-1618). Vergine bella and Ben qui si mostra il ciel by Rore have the solo line given over to the violin, with Webber providing the diminutions (along with diminutions by Orazio Bassani (bef.1570-1619) for the former). Webber’s bird-like violin, athletic yet effortless, skitters and meanders over the delicately plucked lute. The final piece by Rore included here, Hor che’l ciel et la terra, also has diminutions by Webber, but this time Ely has the solo line, brightly delivered over rich string textures, with ornamentation in all parts. 

 

There is a sequence of pieces from the famous 1589 Florentine Intermedii, lavish wedding celebrations for Ferdinando de’ Medici and Christine of Lorraine, with their famed extreme special effects. Cristofano Malvezzi’s (1547-1549) Sinfonia a 6, takes us into La Regione dei Demoni (the realm of demons) with its rich, complex string textures, before Giulio Caccini (c.1650-1618) takes us up into the heavens with Io che dal ciel, Ely delivering startlingly shimmering ornamentation here. This segment ends with O che nuovo miracolo by Emilio de’ Cavaliere (c.1550-1602), which dances along with instrumental fizz, the rapid ornamentation adding to the sense of celebration.

 

There’s more from Monteverdi, with extracts from his Il ballo dell'ingrate, the stately Entrata and swinging Ballo followed by Ah dolente partita, with Ely’s highly expressive falling soprano lines echoed in the violin, here played by Theresa Caudle. Ely’s bell-like high notes cry out, then there’s a swap into her lower vocal register, with Caudle taking over above. Ahi, troppo è duro follows, with dramatic expression and doleful falling lines.

 

There’s a solemn Canzon by Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1554/1557-1612) from the strings which dances along nicely, the disc opens with Canzon decimottava by Claudio Merulo (1533-1604), brightly paced with clear textures, and Carr also gives us a beautifully sad Preludium from Lorenzo Tracetti (1555-1590). Cruda Amarilli appears first in a setting by Johann Nauwach (1595-1630), Ely’s pure, expressive line gently accompanied by Carr on the theorbo. Ely’s ornamentation here is especially nimble, with humming repititions and fluid runs, and it is then followed by Monteverdi’s more familiar setting, here given over to the plaintive strings. And Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) is represented here in Vestiva i colli, with ornamentation shared between the soprano and bass violin in an unusual and delightful dialogue. 

 

With expertly informative notes from Webber, this disc combines these musicians’ clearly expert research and knowledge of this repertoire with virtuosic command of the technical demands of such ornamented performance, making for a highly stimulating and impressive collection. 

Various. 2024. The Madrigal Reimagined. Hannah Ely, Toby Carr, Monteverdi String Band, Oliver Webber. Compact Disc. Resonus Classics RES10341.

CD Reviews - March 2021

American composer-pianist Michael Brown takes the title of his latest recording, Noctuelles from the first movement of Maurice Ravel's (1875-1937) Mirrors, which he performs in full here. It is followed by the Second Improvisation (in variation form), Op. 47 by Russian composer-pianist, Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951).The five movements of Ravel's Miroirs were each dedicated to members of 'Les Apaches', a Parisian artist circle, including painter Paul Sordes and the poet Léon Paul Fargue. It was a line from Fargue that inspired that opening movement, Noctuelles (Night moths), and its shimmering, fluttering textures are mesmerising. Even its slower, more limpid central section, there are slight flutterings, and Brown's dexterity and sensitivity here is striking. In Oiseaux tristes, the rippling textures are more tentative and the atmosphere darker, to which again, Brown is sensitive. Une barque sur l'océan is watery and flowing, and Brown brings out the sea-sick swells and stormier moments as the movement develops. In contrast, Albarado del gracioso is an athletic, energetic dance, and Brown enjoys the jumpy, balletic rhythms, and with its devilish repeated notes and bravura finish, he gives us a virtuosic show, before the mysterious tolling bells and dark clashing harmonies of the final movement, La Vallée des Cloches. Turning to the Medtner, Brown writes about how his research on the piece led to the discovery of two previously unpublished variations, and he adds these here to the fifteen existing variations on the theme, which Medtner calls 'The Song of the Water Nymph', an allusion to Rusalka, Russian folklore's malevolent spirit. He also discovered that Medtner had various orderings for the variations, and so Brown has combined his own take with Medtner's possible orderings to present the set here. The theme is lyrical and watery, yet chromatically ambiguous, this contrast providing the germ for Medtner's variations, from the twisting dark harmonies of Meditation, and the chorale-like and least chromatic Incantation to the shifting harmonic sands of La cadenza, in which the melody is almost hidden amongst perpetual virtuosic activity. Yet there is lightness too, in the sprightly Elves, frisky Gnomes, and chattering Feathered Ones. None of the variations are longer than a couple of minutes or so, and the calmly dark In the Forest, with its overlapping pedalling, and the racing Wood-Goblin are gone in a flash. Brown manages to bring out these contrasting characters, whilst still managing to create a unifying sense of direction, leading to a beautifully contemplative Conclusion, the melody clear and a long-held chord and quiet sombre cadence to finish. Impressive throughout, Brown demonstrates incredible virtuosity, but more than this, great sensitivity to the detail and contrasts within this remarkably evocative music.

Various. 2021. Noctuelles - Ravel, Medtner. Michael Brown. Compact Disc. First Hand Records FHR78.

The early music ensemble, Musica Poetica, directed by Oliver John Ruthven, took part in the Brighton Early Music Festival BREMF Live! scheme back in 2012. For their debut recording, they present a selection of music by the German composer, Franz Tunder (1614-1667). A new one for me, he was the father-in-law of Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707), and there is a clear Lutheran line through him to the music of Bach, whilst at the same time elements of Italian influence - he may have studied with Girolamo Frescobaldi. And on their recording, Tunder Appreciated, Musica Poetica indeed add to their selection of works by Tunder pieces by both Frescobaldi and Buxtehude. From Tunder's seventeen extant vocal works, they have chosen here three works for solo voice and viols, and they end their disc with a wonderful choral cantata, Ein feste Burg, Tunder's arrangement of one of Martin Luther's most famous Reformation hymns. Opening with sinuous strings, Tunder creates a wonderful mixture of textures, with choral and solo lines mixed to great effect, and the ensemble achieve just the right balance of choral blend and individuality of line. For the other three Tunder works, three of the five singers on the recording are given a solo outing. First, soprano Lucy Knight performs Tunder's setting of Psalm 137, Am Wasserflüssen Babylon (By the Waters of Babylon), with a beautifully clear voice, delivering the text with precision over the richly textured accompaniment. Alto Collin Shay brings us Salve mi Jesu, steadily declamatory in tone, and then emphasising Tunder's word-painting of sighing and weeping with great sensitivity, and the stuttering ornamentation is impressively adept. Finally the bass, Christopher Webb gets a turn, in Da mihi Domine, a highlight of the recording for me. Webb's voice is rich yet agile, and he shifts between tender pleading and weighty declamation with ease. This piece also really summed up the musica poetica style (after which the ensemble named themselves), with this declamatory setting of text combined with expressive (and often radical for the time) musical shapes and figurations. Here, the accompaniment also shines through, with rocking melodies passed between instruments, and the two violins echoing the vocal lines beautifully. The two works from Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) are O mors illa, a short but beautiful duet for tenor (Peter Davoren) and bass, beautifully blended here, and accompanied delicately by Toby Carr on theorbo and Ruthven on organ, and Partite sopra Passacagli for solo organ, with its gently lilting introduction, running, winding lines and impressively fluid passacaglia. And the only time when all five singers and the full band come together are for Buxtehude's Ad Latus, from his Membra Jesu Nostri. A meditation on the crucifixion, this glorious work is full of invention and rich detail, and the dancing string introduction here has a real spark. The blend of the five voices is initially not always even, with a couple of voices dominating, although when the opening music returns, the balance seems to have settled. In the central sections, the touch is light, and one is left eager to hear their performance of the complete work. So, impressive performances here, and a great introduction to Tunder, of whom I hope to hear more.

Various. 2018. Tunder Appreciated. Musica Poetica, Oliver John Ruthven. Veterum Musica VM020.

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in Scene, March 2021)