Monteverdi Vespers
Pomp and splendour are the abiding impressions left by this collection of music, which uses a variety of theatrical effects from its very opening fanfare onwards.
Recommended recording: Gabrieli Consort & Players/Paul McCreesh Archiv 477 6147
Monteverdi Madrigals, Book 5
He became more and more daring in his madrigals, giving increasing importance to the words and their meaning which he underscored with daring dissonances.
Recommended recording: Concerto Italiano/Rinaldo Alessandrini Naïve OP 30445
Monteverdi Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
The first audience of this work – neither quite madrigal nor opera – is said to have been reduced to tears by its expressiveness in depicting the central duel.
Recommended recording: Rolando Villazón, Patrizia Ciofi; Le Concert d’Astrée/Emmanuelle Haïm Virgin 363 3502
Monteverdi Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria
Ulysses returns from the Trojan Wars and must prove himself in a contest to win back his wife Penelope.
Recommended recording: Christoph Prégardien, Bernarda Fink; Concerto Vocale/René Jacobs Harmonia Mundi HML 5901427-9
Coronation of Poppea
Monteverdi’s last and greatest opera ends with a sensual duet between the immoral Nero and his mistress Poppea.
Recommended recording: Sylvia McNair, Anne Sofie von Otter; English Baroque Soloists/John Eliot Gardiner Archiv 447 0882
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