 TELDEC Das Alte Werk 4509-98410-2 |
Vanitas
Vanitatum Tragicomedia Barbara Borden, Suzie Le Blanc, Stephanie Möller - sopranos Steve Dugardin - alto John Elwes - tenor Harry van der Kamp - bass Ursula Weiss, Milos Valent - violins Erin Headley - viola da gamba, lirone Stephen Stubbs - chitarrone/guitar Siobhán Armstrong - harp Emanuelle Haim - harpsichord Directed by Stephen Stubbs & Erin Headley |
Pick of '95 The
Guardian
"Guaranteed to obliterate all pre-millenium, pre-X-mas
anxieties" - Anthony Eve, Editor Musical Times
Gramophone
"Tragicomedia have constructed an
ingenious sequence of works by Roman composers on the vanitas theme,
including two little-known works by Luigi Rossi and an exquisite rarity by
Marco Marazzoli. Marazzoli's music is constantly being reassessed as new works
come to light, but from the pieces on this record it is clear that he was the
equal of Carissimi himself. Structured around a hauntingly beautiful ritornello
that is heard four times, Ogni nostro piacer is presented in bright tonal
colours and is delivered in a rather intense and highly rhetorical manner that
is designed to underscore as effectively as possible the central theological
message. Both here and elsewhere we are treated to some difficult passagework
stunningly executed, and a particularly effective feature is the sensitive and
delicate underpinning from a continuo grouping that opts for an intelligent
variety of sound without indulging in overelaboration and intrusive
ornamentation. The heroes of the hour are undoubtedly John Elwes and Harry van
der Kamp, the former a delight in Domenico Mazzocchi's intensely compressed
sonnet setting "Da tutti gli horologi si cava moralita", the latter on fine
virtuoso form in Stefano Landi's brief but demanding "Superbe colli". This
record is worth having for these two tracks alone, but there are many other
good things to savour as well."
The Guardian
"Music of surpassing sensuality
and intensity, which the British-based Tragicomedia realise with enormous
relish and tonal splendour."
BBC Music Magazine
"Vanitas paintings depict
the transience of earthly treasures with skulls, clocks, wisps of candle smoke
- and instruments. Music, no sooner articulated than it vanishes, fascinated
these mid-17th-century Roman composers. Passionate monody, vivid madrigalian
wordpainting and lilting bel canto airs illustrate both worldly delights and
their worthlessness. The colourful Tragicomedia continuo - archlute, double
harp, keyboard - supports six superbly focused singers and three strings,
contemplating the pains of hell in exquisitely sensuous music -delicious
irony!"
Classic CD
"Vanitas Vanitatum is a fascinating
collection of manic-depressive motets from the mid-seventeenth century. Not
content with the past and present glories of Rome, the poets and composers of
the early Baroque set themselves to a gruesome and ghoulish exploration of
mortality with much dwelling on the horrors of dust and ashes. Tragicomedia
perform this music with vivacity but the incisiveness of the singers' voices,
coupled with the chilling message of the lyrics, comes perilously close to
brow-beating in the longer motets. Nonetheless it is fascinating and obscure
music, filled with Hammer Horror chromatic edginess, vivid dance movements and
intricate melismas."
Consort: European Journal of Early Music
"The
music is ravishing and on this recording it is superbly performed. This is a
recording to treasure."
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