What are you listening to?

[fergus]

And tonight I've been listening to La Venexiana's superb version of Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (directed by Claudio Cavina and available on the Glossa label).  This is a very natural, intimate performance that rejects Jacobs' more overt theatricality in favour of something more small scale.  Whereas Jacobs' Monteverdi recordings have impressed me from my very first listen, all of La Venexiana's Monteverdi recordings have taken a few listens to weave their more understated charms into my affections.  What I prize about La Venexiana is their sense of declamatory sincerity, a well of reserved emotion that is more plain-spoken than Jacobs or Alessandrini, yet just as keenly felt. There is more warmth in Jacobs's recording but I find myself more deeply touched by La Venexiana's version which is imbued with a beautiful sense of understated restraint that is patiently cultivated by the conductor, Claudio Cavina.  The closing duet between the reunited Ulisse and Penelope is notable for its delicacy and the sense of eavesdropping upon a very private moment is very touchingly conveyed.

I have La Venexiana's versions of the 8 Books of Madrigals and they are magnificent. Like you, they took just a little time to really sink in but the performances are really very good particularly that "beautiful sense of understated restraint" that you mention.

[fergus]

Last night I finished listening to Handel's Giulio Cesare with René Jacobs....





It is a wonderful work containg some great music but I would be very content to put on Cesare's "Va tacito" and leave it on playback for the entire night!

[fergus]

That is the fourth disc in that series and it is very interesting to listen to the progressive development in the musical language as the music progressed over time.

[fergus]

[Jose Echenique]

Last night I listened to one of my very favourite CD sets, Rene Jacobs's exceptional recording of one of Monteverdi's greatest masterpieces, the incomparable L'incoronazione di Poppea.  A quite extraordinary work of art, its characters live and breathe with a striking realism that sets it far apart from its contemporaries.  Here we see innocence and nobility trampled upon and unbridled ambition rewarded with the ultimate prize.  Earthly pleasures are seized with relish while spiritual ideals are mocked.  The nobility of Octaviaj, the naivety of Ottone and the restrained dignity of Seneca are sharply contrasted with the neurotic ambition of Poppea and the unhinged capriciousness of Nerone.  To my mind, this is one of the highpoints of Jacobs' illustrious conducting career.  Flawlessly sung - particularly by the Nerone of Guillemette Laurens and the Poppea of Danielle Borst, who together project the requisite sense of sensuous decadence in their performances - and dramatically gripping, this is intoxicating stuff.

That is both interesting and timely Paul as I was just about to schedule a listen to L'incoronazione di Poppea soon [Gardiner]. As I was putting it on the scheduled playlist I was also contemplating buying another version. I had been considering the Hickox version but the Jacobs seems like a very good idea.

The Hickox is definitely NOT recommended dear Fergus. Recordings from La Venexiana and Concerto Italiano have been promised. I´d rather wait for them. The Gardiner is overall very good except for the too prim-and-proper Sylvia McNair as Poppea. Gardiner should have looked for a sexier, warmer singer.

[Jose Echenique]

It´s raining dogs and countertenors out there. After the Jaroussky and Fagioli recitals now comes newcomer David Hansen, a young Norwegian/Australian sopranista with a not dissimilar recital on DHM called "Rivals" because it features arias composed for Farinelli and Caffarelli. Of course "his" rivals are Jaroussky and Fagioli, and though Hansen is very accomplished, his voice is more monochrome than Jaroussky´s, let alone Fagioli´s.
He is very well accompanied by the Academia Montis Regalis and Alessandro de Marchi.

[fergus]

That is both interesting and timely Paul as I was just about to schedule a listen to L'incoronazione di Poppea soon [Gardiner]. As I was putting it on the scheduled playlist I was also contemplating buying another version. I had been considering the Hickox version but the Jacobs seems like a very good idea.

The Hickox is definitely NOT recommended dear Fergus. Recordings from La Venexiana and Concerto Italiano have been promised. I´d rather wait for them. The Gardiner is overall very good except for the too prim-and-proper Sylvia McNair as Poppea. Gardiner should have looked for a sexier, warmer singer.

That is also interesting Pepe: it is not often that you would NOT recommend a particular recording so I am curious about your reason.

In relation to Gardiner I think that he generally does Very Good rather than Sexy; but then the two are not mutually exclusive and one of course would prefer to have both LOL!

[fergus]

Four Clarinet Concertos by Carl Stamitz....

[Jose Echenique]

That is both interesting and timely Paul as I was just about to schedule a listen to L'incoronazione di Poppea soon [Gardiner]. As I was putting it on the scheduled playlist I was also contemplating buying another version. I had been considering the Hickox version but the Jacobs seems like a very good idea.

The Hickox is definitely NOT recommended dear Fergus. Recordings from La Venexiana and Concerto Italiano have been promised. I´d rather wait for them. The Gardiner is overall very good except for the too prim-and-proper Sylvia McNair as Poppea. Gardiner should have looked for a sexier, warmer singer.

<That is also interesting Pepe: it is not often that you would NOT recommend a particular recording so I am curious about your reason.>

The Hickox was recorded in the mid 80´s, our understanding of Monteverdi has improved enormously in the past 2 decades, and although it´s not really a bad recordings, the standards have definitely improved since then (Besides Monteverdi, an extremely difficult composer to bring off was never a Hickox specialty). For a contemporary recording that has stood better the test of time I would rather recommend a live recording from La Fenice with, get this, Alan Curtis and his then newly formed Il Complesso Barocco. This recording was released in the Fonit-Cetra label in the late 70´s. At least that recording has some interesting singers like Henri Ledroit that died much too soon.

<In relation to Gardiner I think that he generally does Very Good rather than Sexy; but then the two are not mutually exclusive and one of course would prefer to have both LOL!>

With the likes of Roberta Invernizzi and Sara Mingardo you can get very good and very sexy at the same time. And although Ottavia is not a sexy role, Gardiner certainly scores with the great Anne Sofive von Otter, maybe still too young at the time for this part, but what a great singer. I must say I never was partial to Sylvia McNair, I always much preferred her contemporary Barbara Bonney.

[fergus]

<That is also interesting Pepe: it is not often that you would NOT recommend a particular recording so I am curious about your reason.>

The Hickox was recorded in the mid 80´s, our understanding of Monteverdi has improved enormously in the past 2 decades, and although it´s not really a bad recordings, the standards have definitely improved since then (Besides Monteverdi, an extremely difficult composer to bring off was never a Hickox specialty). For a contemporary recording that has stood better the test of time I would rather recommend a live recording from La Fenice with, get this, Alan Curtis and his then newly formed Il Complesso Barocco. This recording was released in the Fonit-Cetra label in the late 70´s. At least that recording has some interesting singers like Henri Ledroit that died much too soon.

Thank you for that Pepe. I have never heard Hickox in Monteverdi and I was only going on his wonderful performances of those Haydn Masses. I know that there it is a musical universe of a difference between those two composers but the performances of the Haydn was so good. I take your point about the advances in Monteverdi interpretation; La Venexiana is an excellent example of this.