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Fanfare Magazine: 43:1 (09-10/2019) 
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In Fanfare 41:1 I was a little too quick to announce the completion of Marco Longhini’s Monteverdi series (long after it was recorded), since I noted further along in the review that the present disc (recorded just a year later) was on its way. His series now matches the contempora-neous series by Claudio Cavina and the more recent series by Krijn Koetsveld. Cavina found room on his disc of Book 1 to record 12 pieces from Book 9, omitting, as he noted, the four other pieces that were reprinted from Book 8 and recorded there. Koetsveld recorded the four pieces again (as shown by the dates of recording), filling a whole disc with his Book 9. Longhini goes further, recording the 12 unique pieces of Book 9 and six pieces published in Scherzi musicali in 1632. In the track list, he references the four other pieces of Book 9 where they are found in his Book 8 set, and he likewise refers to Zefiro torna and Armato il cor as first published in the 1632 book. The former, reprinted in Book 9, is sung only in that group and the latter, reprinted in both Book 8 and Book 9, is sung only in Book 8. To avoid any confusion, he adds a comment that Su, su, su pastorelli vezzosi as found in Book 9 is given a different musical setting than in Book 8. The Marini sinfonia begins the program as an introduction to Bel pastor. It should be noted that a couple of years later Cavina assembled a program titled Scherzi musicali that included the six unique pieces of the 1632, set along with seven others from various sources (33:3). That disc employed only one singer, soprano Emanuela Galli. Five of those other pieces were included in the miscellaneous madrigals that filled out the second disc of Longhini’s Book 6.

The distinguishing feature of Longhini’s set is the broad tempos, noted as the successive issues arrived. The booklet describes his interpretations as “unconventional, yet impassioned,” for the tempos allow the texts to unfold in a deliberate manner, but they increased the number of discs required to 15, three or four more than the two boxed sets. Every track on this disc uses instrumental accompaniment, just once as slight as organ alone. In the six madrigal books, the pattern was alternation, leaving half the pieces in each disc unaccompanied. Koetsveld was progressive, using harpsichord first in Books 3 and 4, then more instruments in Books 5 and 6. Cavina used no instruments in the first four books and only a continuo group in the next two.

Among the three complete sets, Cavina was issued at full price but is now available as a boxed set for not much more than Koetsveld’s boxed set. That leaves Longhini’s prices at a disadvantage. I preferred Cavina when the single discs were at full price, so if you didn’t buy them early, his boxed set is now the first choice. Koetsveld is a viable alternative, but Longhini brings out the meaning of every text in a way that gives his set a special appeal. The sound is caught up close. If you have been collecting Longhni’s series, add this one.


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