Tirami Su Che soave armonia, CD recorded by John Hadden

Inspired by the Italian dessert whose name means 'pick me up', Erin Headley has attracted a colourful band of musicians from around the globe to create a brand-new Baroque group Tirami Su. Tirami Su's players come from America, Australia, Canada, England, Germany, The Netherlands, Slovakia and Sweden to explore the 17th century's most beautiful repertoire.

Vanguard Classics 99141 Visit Tirami Su's Website

Tirami Su Che soave armonia Music of Monteverdi, Cazzati, Legrenzi, Bertali, Sances, Archilei, Rigatti and Valentini Laurie Reviol, soprano Harry van der Kamp, bass Milos Valent and Peter Spissky, violin Keren Bruce and Juraj Kovac, viola da gamba Alexander Weimann, harpsichord, organ Elizabeth Kenny, chitarrone and guitar Erin Headley viola da gamba, lirone with Lucy Carolan , harpsichord Eligio Quinteiro, chitarrone & Diane Moore, violin

Tirami Su Erin Headley

Gramophone
"Imaginative singing, fine instrumental work and a cleverly thought-out programme make this an appealing collection of works from the seventeenth century... how directly such apparently simple music can speak to us. Well performed, as it is here, the effect can be captivating. As well as sensuous string playing, there is fine expressive singing from Canadian soprano Laurie Reviol to aid the disc's success, a typically rock-solid contribution from Harry van der Kamp, and to top it all a sensitive and natural recorded sound. This is the kind of disc .. which should certainly repay anyone's interest." Lindsay Kemp

Choice of the month, Luister magazine, The Netherlands
"What is exciting about this new group is its makeup of violins and violas da gamba - a rather unusual one - with a background of lirone, chitarrone, Baroque guitar, harpsichord and organ. Erin Headley says in the booklet that although this instrumentation might not have been standard, there are still good reasons to assume that it was sometimes done this way. Authentic or not, it sounds wonderful! The word 'tirare' plays a central role in the group's playing since it refers to drawing out the bow in imitation of the human voice. This way of playing is used for accompanying singers as well as in purely instrumental pieces. This attempt succeeds completely. One clearly hears separate 'voices', and there is an enormous transparency. I think it is a brilliant CD and as far as I am concerned Erin Headley can start on another one immediately!"

Early Music Review
"Tirami Su is a new ensemble, organised by Erin Headley, and based on a rich and varied group (usually four players chitarrone, bass viols or Headley's beloved lirone, and harpsichord or organ) together with two violins and gamba. The line-up evokes those old American movies about the Second World War in which the platoon - or rather, their grandfathers - always had to include an Italian, a Norwegian, an Irishman and a Jew. The instrumentalists on this CD come from Slovakia, Australia (by way of Sweden), England, Scotland, Germany and the USA; the singers are from Canada and Holland. The repertoire on Tirami Su's debut CD covers almost a century, from the prologue for the 1589 Florentine intermedi to a Legrenzi sonata published in 1673. Although I'm not wholly ignorant of 17th-century music, I was delighted to find that six of the twelve pieces - and 44 of the 73 minutes' running time - were completely new to me. The 17th century must have given at least as warm a welcome to this kind of playing, which gives prominence to lyrical beauty and a gentle, subtle interplay between parts. I'm especially charmed by Alexander Weimann's harpsichord and Elizabeth Kenny's chitarrone: both sound the genuinely improvisatory note of responding sensitively to the melodic parts (instrumental or vocal) and to the acoustics of the parish church where the recording was made - a warm and hospitable space in which the producer John Hadden, using a simple stereo pair, somehow achieves both roominess and intimacy. In any case, though, it's the singing that lies at the heart of this repertoire. I include the singing of Tirami Su's string players, for they have learnt well from the 17th-century teachers' admonition to emulate singing. Of the two guest singers, the soprano Laurie Reviol gets the greater exposure, her two big pieces (Bertali's Lamento della Regina d'Inghilterra and the Lament from Monteverdi's Arianna) making up almost one-third of the playing time. She has a lovely legato, and I couldn't tell at first that her light-seeming lyrical voice would deploy such power in the two laments. If the album has a centrepiece, it's Bertali's Lamento. In Reviol's other solos, the instrumental element is so important that they are really concerti for an ensemble that happens to include a soprano. The performers' enjoyment of Sances' Accenti queruli (on the familiar Zefiro toma ground bass) is obvious: they make it sound more like an improvisation than most improvisations do. The bass Harry van der Kamp has just two pieces, but both make a powerful impression: the kind of virtuoso solos that have been a David Thomas speciality. I'd heard van der Kamp often in ensemble recordings but seldom as a soloist: he has an immense range, and he's both powerful and expressive. In a stunning 'serenata' by Cazzati, he gives a master class in the uses of vibrato as an ornament. Tirami Su has everything an ensemble specialising in the early Baroque should have: a distinctive sound, a congenial sense of style, an instinct for finding good repertoire. The group deserves to thrive and make more recordings as imaginative as this; whether it will, in the barbaric current state of the recording business, is at best anyone's guess."

BBC Music Magazine
"Tirami Su is a mixed ensemble of violins, viole da gamba, harpsichord or organ, and plucked instruments together with a soprano and a bass vocalist. 'Che soave armonia' is the title of a programme in which Monteverdi's music has the lion's share. Other composers who get a look-in include Cavalieri, Cazzati and Legrenzi. The sequence of pieces is well-chosen and varied and, by and large, very well performed. An entertaining release."

Klassieke Zaken, The Netherlands - June 1999
"....It is obvious that to Tirami Su tone colour is very important. On this debut CD the attention goes mainly to the vocal music of Monteverdi and his Italian contemporaries. It must be a delight to sing with such an ensemble and this is audible from the young Canadian soprano Laurie Reviol, whose singing is lyrical and impassioned, with a beautiful dark timbre in her voice. In short she is ideal for the 'Lamento d'Arianna', the only music remaining from Monteverdi's' lost opera 'Arianna'. This is an ideal debut, which easily survives the competition, what with the other numerous and often very beautiful recordings of this style and period around."

Tidig Musik (Early Music), Sweden
"In the last edition of 'Tidig Musik' Erin Headley contributed an article on the art of 'singing and talking with the bow', so it was with great interest that I listened to the sounding result of Headley's work on the CD 'Che soave armonia' with her group Tirami Su. The focus for Headley's interpretation is string basses: gambas of different sizes, the lirone, cellos to some extent, various lutes, etc.. According to Monteverdi the string bass's ability to express loveliness with all the diversity of the voice is summed up in the word 'soavita', also the theme of the recording. Headley calls it vocal bowing. This as a short summary and introduction to the CD. Tirami Su relies upon two vocal strengths, soprano Laurie Reviol and bass Harry van der Kamp. Together they perform works of Monteverdi, and those of Bertali, Legrenzi, Valentini, Rigatti, Cazzati, Archilei and Sances. Only one of the pieces is marked by the composer as instrumental, the rest is so-called vocal music, but the group chooses to perform some of these works instrumentally. And it should be stated with emphasis that the instrumental part is the CD's absolute strength. My personal favourite is the last track 'Nisi Dominus' which is performed instrumentally. It is precisely as lovely and vocally expressive as I think Headley was striving for. The playing is extremely vocal, with wonderful dynamic variation and expressiveness - this recording is an inspiring model for instrumental sound-production and for the discovery of new string repertoire."

Scherzo magazine, Spain
"This Vanguard CD, with its varied programme of vocal and instrumental works by Monteverdi and his contemporaries, is already set to become a classic of the early Baroque discography. Here is some of the finest repertoire of the 17th century, and Tirami Su, under the direction of the gamba player Erin Headley, approach it with clear musicological insight. With his accustomed robust sound and secure intonation, the bass Harry van der Kamp brings intense expressivity to the music. Even so, the best of the CD comes in the instrumental tracks, where arrangements of madrigals by Monteverdi, and the beautiful motet Nisi Dominus by Rigatti, demonstrate the musicians' fine technique, expressive warmth and exquisite tonal palette."

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