COMPOSERS: Bonelli,Cavalli,Monteverdi,Rognoni,Slavatore,Uccellini
LABELS: Alba
ALBUM TITLE: Monteverdi and his contemporaries
WORKS: Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda; Lamento d’Arianna
PERFORMER: Monica Groop, Ian Honeyman, Petteri Salomaa, Helsinki Baroque OrchestraAapo Hakkinen
CATALOGUE NO: ABCD 198
This potpourri of works by
Monteverdi and his contemporaries
makes attractive listening, though the
performances are somewhat uneven
in standard. Petteri Salomaa is an
imposing narrator in Monteverdi’s Il
combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda,
his voice resonant enough to convey
the more bellicose words of Tasso’s
crusade poem, yet sufficiently pliant
to cope with the music’s intricate,
‘agitated style’. Salomaa’s delivery of
the narrative is highly persuasive, too,
if lacking that last ounce of intensity
at the tragic denouement. This is a
fine interpretation with some stylish
instrumental playing, but it is hard to
rival the intensely powerful account
directed by Rinaldo Alessandrini with
Roberto Abondanzza as the narrator.
Mezzo-soprano Monica Groop
takes centre stage in the operatic
fragment Lamento d’Arianna, her
lustrous, velvety voice sure to appeal to
those who like a dramatic approach to
Baroque music. Tenor Ian Honeyman
sings Monteverdi’s ravishing setting
of Nigra sum with apt sensuousness.
Elsewhere, though, he can sound
strained when technically challenged.
The vocal numbers are interwoven
with less well-known chamber works
which members of Helsinki Baroque
realise with considerable prowess and
musicianship. The recorded balance
is well judged – detailed, yet with the
natural bloom of a church acoustic.
Kate Bolton