C 9606 MUSICA TRANSALPINA [11,99 Euro]

There are not many CDs available as a soloist of one of the greatest figures of the early music scene, Evelyn Tubb, and this makes our label, Cantus, particularly proud to be able to start, with this delightful recording, a series that will pay due homage to this extraordinary artist. And, of course, also to the inextinguishable ability of Anthony Rooley to dive into the lesser known repertoires and propose programs full of timeless jewels.

This album is dedicated to music from Italy and England, and particularly to pieces of Italian origin that travelled to England since the fifteenth century and once there, they were either readapted or their style was copied and imitated with overwhelming success. This is how, in a chronological tour broken only by the last piece, as an encore, Evelyn Tubb and Anthony Rooley take our hand and accompany us on an amazing journey: Beginning with the Tastar de corde (i.e. "to taste the tuning") of Dalza's piece, we continue with the ecstatic piece of Bartolomeo Tromboncino, Ave Maria gratia plena, of breathtaking beauty, then we inhale the intense aroma of traditional English pieces in the beautiful song Sum tyme I syghe on Wyatt's text, our hearts are broken with the three pieces on the sorrowful text I saw my Lady weep (the original by Ferrabosco, the first one totally English, by Morley, and the famous one by Dowland), we take a delightful stroll through the world of 17th century London theatre (Ferrabosco II, Lanier, Lawes or Reggio), and we descend into the Luciferian hells with Carissimi. Then comes the world of the London opera, with the domestic arrangements that were made to take the most famous arias to the world of the noble salon, whether in Italian or English - with pieces by Bononcini or John Abell-, we witness the typical English humour that ridiculed the "tragedy" of Senesino's travel to Spain and abandone ourselves to the delicate classical perfume with Giordani's beautiful composition of the Shakespearean poem Willow, Willow, Willow, Willow and Corri's arias versions of Mozart's The Magic Flute (yes, Mozart performed with lute accompaniment, for the first time on record!). What else?

Evelyn Tubb's singing style is absolutely individual, she is the "perfect early music singer": based on her extraordinary stylistic preparation, Evelyn transcends any definition of what the voice should be like in this or that repertoire, and proceeds with a skill based on her dazzling technique to make the music her own, from within and heartfelt. That is why the listener is so often amazed at her audacity, her delicacy, her tenderness, at her gift for giving the exact expression to each word, for underlining each emotion and each feeling in a masterly, precise and perfect way. "Evelyn Tubb has the skills of virtuoso singer, and she shows it right from the start" (Gramophone magazine, UK).

The present album is the perfect companion to another of our new releases, C 9628 A Many Coloured Coat, another fascinating tribute from Evelyn Tubb and Anthony Rooley to the uncomplexed journeys through little-known repertoires, or to those they give a completely unique perspective full of passion, knowledge and sensitivity. In both cases, a special microphone technique has been chosen which is not only extremely natural, but also allows Evelyn Tubb using the stage space of Forde Abbey as if it were a live concert, thus increasing the nuances and the sensation of spatiality, creating a unique and different sensation.