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 è 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.