C 9403 COR MIO, DEH, NON LANGUIRE [11,99 Euro]

The third volume in the Cantus series entitled The Consort of Musicke Heritage Collection is undoubtedly one of the most important technical and musical achievements of Anthony Rooley's ensemble, which presents here, in wonderful performances by sublime singers such as Emma Kirkby, Evelyn Tubb, Mary Nichols, Andrew King, Paul Agnew and Alan Ewing, among others, 21 glorious madrigals on Guarini's famous poem, 21 amazing pieces that represent the culmination of the most refined vocal art of 17th century in Italy.

Like a slice through geological strata, this collection traces the history of the musical settings of Guarini's poem Cor mio, deh, non languire. Spanning the entire seventeenth century, the settings range in style from the dazzling vocal virtuosity of the Ferrarese court and the final flowering of the classical polyphonic madrigal, to the new monodic wrting which aspired to move the listener's soul. The spirit of this changing times is captured by The Consort of Musicke, enticing the listener to follow them along the path of musical history.

This de-luxe digipack edition, which comes with a richly illustrated 40-page, full-color booklet, brings us some extraordinary compositions by such familiar names as Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Giulio Caccini, Sigismondo d'India, Adriano Banchieri and Alessandro Scarlatti, but it also allows us to listen to masterpieces by much less well-known composers such as the Englishman John Ward (from whom we will be presenting more recordings by The Consort of Musicke in Cantus in the future), the German Johannes Grabbe, or musicians never recorded before such as Giovanni Pasta, Giovanni Priuli or Gemignano Capilupi, for example, glorious music that takes on an unsuspected transcendence in the miraculous voices of The Consort of Musicke.

As expected, The Consort of Musicke offers an amazing performance of this extraordinary music. The clean, transparent, pure, expressive and emotional voices of these astonishing singers (the list of names of the main singers of the group in this CD is impressive: Kirkby, Tubb, Nichols, King, Agnew and Ewing!) This ecstatic collection of madrigals, which together would easily represent one of the pinnacles of the Italian music of the Seicento, is admirably recreated in every detail, in every nuance of the texts and of the music.