Tuesday, April 08, 2014

THE BOAT FROM VENICE TO PADUA

THE BOAT FROM VENICE TO PADUA


I Fagiolini at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
06.04.2014

Following the acclaimed L'Ormindo, a hugely entertaining two hours from I Fagiolini.
All based round the madrigal comedy of 1623 by Banchieri: a sequence of short scenes following the passengers as they escape Venice for a break in Padua. Wonderfully characterized by the five singers, and considerably enhanced by the English introductions by Timothy Knapman – who knew there were so many rhymes for Venezia … - delivered in a cod Italian accent from the Fagiolini's director Robert Hollingworth.

Somewhat straighter, excerpts from Monteverdi's Sixth Book of Madrigals, four hundred years old this year, and a limpid solo reading of the same composer's Si Dolce รจ il tormento, by countertenor William Purefoy, no stranger to New Globe Walk.

Theorbo solos, too from Paula Chateauneuf, who joined Hollingworth's harpsichord for the continuos.


An amuse-bouche from Gesualdo, and to end, a novelty number from the Scherzi Musicali of Giulio-Cesare Monteverdi, Claudio's lesser known younger brother, entitled Mentre Lavo I Vetri. Unbelievable.




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