Italian Music from the Late Renaissance and Baroque

[Que]

This recording has all the makings of a truly great one:

[asin]B00004U2KR[/asin]
Two excellent choral works in period performanes by a composer that deservedly is being explored more and more. And alternating these with two inventive sinfonias actually works wonderfully well..... Add to that really impressive singing - by the chorus but also the superb soloists in both works. The instrumental accompaniment is judicious and elegantly phrased. The recording is airy and has clarity.

But...I should have known with Early Music veteran René Clemencic at the helm.....(Diego Fasolis is choir master) everything moves at a snail's pace in an overly reverential atmosphere. In the Missa Dolorosa slightly less so than in the Stabat Mater. Any self respecting Italian HIP conductor would have more passion into the music!  Fasolis would have done this better on his own...

If this were Amazon: four stars because it is so close to perfection....but no cigar....
On account of the quality of the music and the gorgeous singing: recommended nonetheless....
And Clemencic still easily beats Hengelbrock in the Missa Dolorosa...

Q

[aligreto]

This recording has all the makings of a truly great one:

[asin]B00004U2KR[/asin]

OK, I have a small collection [3 CDs] of the music of Caldara and anything that I have heard of his I have liked. Therefore, I have put this one on the Wish List 

[aligreto]

My morning listening:

[asin]B0000634YO[/asin]
Getting more Palestrina is still on my to do list....
Palestrina has been popular amongst British ensembles, but that's not my cup of tea...
Which currently brings down the number of eligible candidates considerably.
There is a real need for more excellent Italian Renaissance choral ensembles, like De Labyrintho, to fill the gaps here...
As in Baroque, the Italian are late to the party....but are bound to make a impressive entrance

Q

I have always liked the music of Palestrina since I first heard it a long time ago. I have recordings by many of the British ensembles that you refer to above. I will watch this space with interest to see if you do come up with some new recordings by an Italian ensemble. That would certainly be a very interesting listen.

[aligreto]

Concerto Italiano has a madrigal recording.  Originally on the Tactus label, this one has been reissued as a part of that label's white series:

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And on Brilliant:

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Gio review! 

I am all for De Labyrintho releasing some Palestrina too! 

That is a good start for me; I will check that one out 

[Mandryka]

A muscular and colourful harpsichord used with great skill by Fabio Bonizzoni to make Bernardo Storace's subtle variations accumulate in intensity, the result is hypnotic in a minimalist way.

How good is Storace? Not as good as Frescobaldi? Better than Pasquini? I just bought Alessandrini's recording dedicated to him: there's a Storaci Ricercar in 150 Years of Italian Music which is really impressive.

[Que]

Time to revive this all too little thread with a mixed disc with harpsichord and organ pieces by the elusive Bernardo Storace, played by Fabio Bonizzoni. Little is known about Storace who was Maestro di Capella at Messina, Sicily.

I did not pay sufficient attention to this disc first time around, it sounded OK but my interest wasn't really triggered. Probably a quick listen during breakfast before rushing off to work is not ideal for attentive listening! Because this is interesting stuff, provided that you're into "earlier" Italian Baroque keyboard music. I am. I would position Storace as a successor to Frescobaldi, the same structured, reflective music in a formal style but with quite more forward looking features added - denser, more virtuosic, rhythmically dynamic and expressive. Glimpses of the keyboard music by the Neapolitan School are clearly present. The organ music is a bit more conservative but very fine and it is the authentic characterfull sounds of the Sicilian organ that does it.

Great, expressive playing by Fabio Bonizzoni, who was a pupil of Ton Koopman, something which is not immediately noticeable, probably because of a difference in (musical) personality. Yet on the organ he does pay, like Koopman, a lot of attention to proper articulation. Maybe I wouldn't have minded slightly less hesitations in some of the slower keyboard pieces. Beautiful instruments that are beautifully recorded - a harpsichord by Nikolaus Damm after Trasuntino and the organ of the Chiesa della SS.Trinità in Petralia Sottana, Sicily, built in 1751.

Maybe not indespendable but an issue of clear interest to those into keyboard and organ music of this period.

Q

My own little write up of six years ago...

Q

[Mandryka]

My own little write up of six years ago...

Q

Yes, that looks very fair. I think it's the best thing I've heard from Bonizzoni in fact. Cera is totally different, different articulation and different sounds from a different style of instrument and, of course, less speed. Incomparable.

[Que]

I also quite enjoyed this disc by Bonizzoni with composers from the Ventian School:



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Picchi-Scuola-Veneziana-Annibale-Padovano/dp/B00004YUB2/

Q

[Mandryka]

      

As an aesthetic, it is marked by a non-narrative, non-teleological, and non-representational conception of a work in progress, and represents a new approach to the activity of listening to music by focusing on the internal processes of the music, which lack goals or motion toward those goals.[7] Prominent features of the technique include consonant harmony, steady pulse (if not immobile drones), stasis or gradual transformation, and often reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units such as figures, motifs, and cells

The above definition of minimalism suggests that Storace's Pastorale is the earliest piece of minimalist music. A simple short motif repeated with small variation and without goal over a pedal point, without aim. It is long - about 10 minutes.

It's a tremendous piece of music, which in some sense makes me think of the Bach violin chaconne and Beethoven's Grosse Fugue.

I have three recordings of the whole the thing, Cera, Alessandrini and Bonizzoni. Cera uses organ and percussion, while Bonizzoni and Alessandrini use just the organ. Alessandrini (in 150 years of Italian Music, I haven't heard his Storace CD yet, it's on the way hopefully) is somehow the most avant garde modern sounding; the percussion on Cera's makes for an attractive crazy dance feeling; Bonizzoni's is IMO the least successful of the three, but is nevertheless interesting because of the soaring intensity of the playing in the central section. All three are wonderful.

[Jo498]

I picked this up for EUR 3 or so from jpc. Never heard of the composer Della Ciaja (he is mentioned a handful of times in the forum, though) but this is very entertaining music, an odd mix between the 17th century italian masters, Handel and D. Scarlatti, well played and nicely recorded.

[asin]B000031X2V[/asin]

[Mandryka]

       

I'm now convinced, by these two recordings, that Mayone is the major  figure of the avant garde in Gesualdo's court, apart from Gesualdo himself of course.

Are there any books on Gesualdo's influence and art? Neapolitan renaissance music generally?

[Que]

I'm now convinced, by these two recordings, that Mayone is the major  figure of the avant garde in Gesualdo's court, apart from Gesualdo himself of course.

Oh wow, would love to get my hands on that recording!    Which has been on my wishlist for ever...

Though I would also settle for a brand new recording by the likes of Marcon, Alessandrini or Molardi.....

Q

[Mandryka]

Oh wow, would love to get my hands on that recording!    Which has been on my wishlist for ever...

I got mine easily from eBay years ago, and I just saw there's one for sale from there now, in the Netherlands to boot!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CD-CHRISTOPHER-STEMBRIDGE-ascanio-mayone-2CD-NEAR-MINT-RARE1992-/132269977326?hash=item1ecbe7aeee:g:NZoAAOSwcrxZc3Ww

(Listening to it again I was really impressed by Stembridge as a harpsichord player -  I had a similar experience when I went back to his Frescobaldi a couple of weeks ago. He's very good at fantastic style on harpsichord, a great variety of touch and a sense of flamboyance. If anything the Mayone is even more impressive than the Frescobaldi, maybe.)

Though I would also settle for a brand new recording by the likes of Marcon, Alessandrini or Molardi.....

Q

I'd give up all of those for a recording by Vartolo 


By the way the disc with Aymes is good because it's got harp! Angels play harp! And it's gentle, lyrical. A different point of view.

[Que]

I got mine easily from eBay years ago, and I just saw there's one for sale from there now, in the Netherlands to boot!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CD-CHRISTOPHER-STEMBRIDGE-ascanio-mayone-2CD-NEAR-MINT-RARE1992-/132269977326?hash=item1ecbe7aeee:g:NZoAAOSwcrxZc3Ww

Thanks! 

[Florestan]

I have these



of which I listened only to the 1st disc and it bored me into sleep. Endless ornamentation and chords without any fully developed musical idea; not a single theme, let alone melody, to catch my attention even for a brief moment --- and mostly slow, dirge-ish tempi. Is this music supposed to be, and sound, exactly like that? Truth is, Renaissance keyboard music is a hard nut for me (I've had similar experiences with Frescobaldi and Cabezon).

[Que]

I had the 1st disc by Tasini, and it bored me to sleep as well... If that is any consolation...

Your previous post reminded me to try another one, from a performer that hasn't let me down before:

[asin]B0009HB3MI[/asin]
Q

[Mandryka]

I have these



of which I listened only to the 1st disc and it bored me into sleep. Endless ornamentation and chords without any fully developed musical idea; not a single theme, let alone melody, to catch my attention even for a brief moment --- and mostly slow, dirge-ish tempi. Is this music supposed to be, and sound, exactly like that? Truth is, Renaissance keyboard music is a hard nut for me (I've had similar experiences with Frescobaldi and Cabezon).

Well before you give up completely I'd say you should try that Aymes recording, the approach to Maione may well appeal to a romantic temperament like your good self. And the idea of interleaving them with the heady Gesualdo is a good one. If it does appeal let me know and I'll try to think of some Frescobaldi and Cabezon in a similar vein.

( though if you really didn't like Varolo's Frescobaldi Capriccii you're probably a hopeless case  )

[Florestan]

Well before you give up completely I'd say you should try that Aymes recording, the approach to Maione may well appeal to a romantic temperament like your good self. And the idea of interleaving them with the heady Gesualdo is a good one. If it does appeal let me know and I'll try to think of some Frescobaldi and Cabezon in a similar vein.

Thanks for the tip.

( though if you really didn't like Varolo's Frescobaldi Capriccii you're probably a hopeless case  )

Something from the Loreggian Brilliant box, actually.

I'll try Vartolo, too. I don't want to give up for good, at least not for the time being. 

I do like Frescobaldi's Canzonas, much more appealing and interesting. 

[Mandryka]

Re melody, the music doesn't work by by hooking you with a tune like Schubert or Mozart or something, there are melodies, but they're not hooks. The motifs they use are developed, often rhythmically, and that, for me, can make a satisfying music experience. And there are often interesting harmonic things which go on, but it has to be on the right instrument, tuned right and voiced imaginatively. But I think that for me,  the music doesn't hook you in with a memorable appealing melody or a foot-tapping rhythm. I know Frescobaldi'a toccatas well, but I can't hum one from memory. I hardly know Mahler, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Schubert and Beethoven  at all, but I reckon I could hum my way through every symphony.


I want to type that the music is more cerebral than C 18th and C 19th - but I may not be being fair to later composers.

So I won't type it. 

Tempo is a big issue in early music, and it's true that the tempos they choose are sometimes slower than you get in high baroque. Again, I think the music is often supposed to be  subtly and richly expressive and meditative and inward looking, rather than a jolly romp like a Corelli concerto or a Scarlatti sonata. (I'm not a great appreciator of late baroque!)

[Florestan]

Re melody, the music doesn't work by by hooking you with a tune like Schubert or Mozart or something, there are melodies, but they're not hooks. The motifs they use are developed, often rhythmically, and that, for me, can make a satisfying music experience. And there are often interesting harmonic things which go on, but it has to be on the right instrument, tuned right and voiced imaginatively. But I think that for me,  the music doesn't hook you in with a memorable appealing melody or a foot-tapping rhythm.

I want to type that the music is more cerebral than C 18th and C 19th - but I may not be being fair to later composers.

So I won't type it. 

Tempo is a big issue in early music, and it's true that the tempos they choose are sometimes slower than you get in high baroque. Again, I think the music is often supposed to be and very subtly and richly expressive and meditative and inward looking, rather than a jolly romp like a Corelli concerto or a Scarlatti sonata. (I'm not a great appreciator of late baroque!)

Interesting points, thank you.

I'm rather emotional than cerebral and I am definitely not into intellectual games, let alone when it comes to art, so this music (Renaissance keyboard --- I don't have any problems with vocal and instrumental works) might simply be not for me.