MONTEVERDI
Sweet Torment
CHANDOS / CHACONNE
2009
Sweet Torment features the magnificent Il Ballo dell’Ingrate from 1608, the same year as the lost opera Arianna. Venus descends to the gates of hell looking for revenge on the young women who have refused the advances of suitable young men… Suave dances for strings, ‘a horrible noise of untuned timpani’ [original stage direction] and another beautiful lament for a soprano Ingrate. Also the fabulous duet Zefiro torna and much more...
MONTEVERDI
SERIES
VOL. 3
MONTEVERDI
Sweet Torment
CHANDOS / 2009
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REVIEWS
★★★★
“…the third in a series of Monteverdi madrigal anthologies…shows terrific musical discernment. The experience and flair of I Fagiolini is clearly demonstrated across these styles and textures...”
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
“The range of effects is startling: from the dazed idée fixe of "T'amo, mia vita!" (1605) to the bouyant ground bass of "Zefiro torna" (1632), here brilliantly animated by chitarrone, harp and harpsichord. Most exciting, however, is the group's reading of "Ballo delle Ingrate" and Barokksolistene's sullen dance for the damned.”
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
“…most successful… is the Ballo delle ingrate, one of the most coherent accounts of it I can remember, with a sharply delineated Pluto. The variety of continuo instruments is highly effective, and the work's dramatic line holds until the final, valedictory exhortation. ”
GRAMOPHONE