Fire and Ashes
I'm a huge fan of I Fagiolini, so I wanted to share this with you in case you've not encountered their magic.
This week the second CD of their series on Monteverdi, Fire and Ashes, is out, launched with tracks played on BBC Radio 3. The CDs are on Chandos Chaconne.
From Robert Hollingworth in the I Fagiolini newsletter -
"We know that it's going against fashion for a British group to be recording Italian
Renaissance repertoire at the moment. 20 years ago, of course, and you could
practically only buy the Consort of Musicke doing this repertoire. Then along came
'Concerto Italiano' and 'La Venexiana' (interestingly pretty much the same singers
but the countertenor directing) came along and everything changed.
One of the unspoken 'truths' of this repertoire is the nicely comfortable assumption
that Italians must be best at doing their own repertoire. This may or may not be
true of these two specific Italian groups but it's a dangerous assumption to make in
general. We feel that we have something to say about the repertoire and our series
is also marked by not releasing it book by book but by an imaginative mixing of
genres so that each disc provides a very complete selection of his repertoire."
"On this new disc comes what some may think as a slightly new sound for I Fagiolini:
the familiar richer sound for moments of passion but straighter at moments of
dissonance. This is heard to advantage in the sumptuous 'Rimante in pace' and the
funereal lament, 'Sestina'. Also, fiery tenor duets, an extraordinarily virtuosic
bass solo covering two and a half octaves, new thoughts on a Ballo as well as two
erotic masterpieces."
Reception of the first CD in the series, released last year -
Gramophone: "Do not miss this wide-ranging survey on any account"; The Telegraph named it as a 'CD of the year'.
Reviews of I Fagiolini's film 'The Full Monteverdi':
Classic FM Mag: 5 stars and 'This brilliant film'
but a US magazine apparently gave it just 2 stars and a criticism that it's not the same as the live version. I don't know which magazine, but... of course it's not the same as the live version, or rather as any of the live versions because each was different. A film gives scope for other ways of putting the drama across, while it would have to lose some of the intimacy and immediacy of having the couple you'd been talking to over a glass of wine suddenly start to have a row in music.
This week the second CD of their series on Monteverdi, Fire and Ashes, is out, launched with tracks played on BBC Radio 3. The CDs are on Chandos Chaconne.
From Robert Hollingworth in the I Fagiolini newsletter -
"We know that it's going against fashion for a British group to be recording Italian
Renaissance repertoire at the moment. 20 years ago, of course, and you could
practically only buy the Consort of Musicke doing this repertoire. Then along came
'Concerto Italiano' and 'La Venexiana' (interestingly pretty much the same singers
but the countertenor directing) came along and everything changed.
One of the unspoken 'truths' of this repertoire is the nicely comfortable assumption
that Italians must be best at doing their own repertoire. This may or may not be
true of these two specific Italian groups but it's a dangerous assumption to make in
general. We feel that we have something to say about the repertoire and our series
is also marked by not releasing it book by book but by an imaginative mixing of
genres so that each disc provides a very complete selection of his repertoire."
"On this new disc comes what some may think as a slightly new sound for I Fagiolini:
the familiar richer sound for moments of passion but straighter at moments of
dissonance. This is heard to advantage in the sumptuous 'Rimante in pace' and the
funereal lament, 'Sestina'. Also, fiery tenor duets, an extraordinarily virtuosic
bass solo covering two and a half octaves, new thoughts on a Ballo as well as two
erotic masterpieces."
Reception of the first CD in the series, released last year -
Gramophone: "Do not miss this wide-ranging survey on any account"; The Telegraph named it as a 'CD of the year'.
Reviews of I Fagiolini's film 'The Full Monteverdi':
Classic FM Mag: 5 stars and 'This brilliant film'
but a US magazine apparently gave it just 2 stars and a criticism that it's not the same as the live version. I don't know which magazine, but... of course it's not the same as the live version, or rather as any of the live versions because each was different. A film gives scope for other ways of putting the drama across, while it would have to lose some of the intimacy and immediacy of having the couple you'd been talking to over a glass of wine suddenly start to have a row in music.
posted by Elisabeth at 1:08 pm
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