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American Record Guide: (09/2017) 
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Harmonia Mundi
HMM90228687



Code-barres / Barcode : 3149020228623(603)

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At first glance, we might seem to be offered a newly discovered counterpart to the famed intermedio collection for the play La Pellegrina of 1589. But it is no such thing, even though it is constructed to parallel that landmark cooperative venture. It is, rather, an artificial pasticcio meant to serve this album’s argument. The argument is hardly an original one: that the extravagant dramatic bundles, or intermedii developed for the Medici court in Florence (usually for celebrations of grand dynastic marriages), on the one hand, and the origins of the new form of opera, on the other, belong to a single evolutionary process, leading logically from one to the other, as part of the genesis of monody. All of that went on, of

course, while that great codifier of opera, Monteverdi (not a musical contributor here), was creating his benchmark Orfeo.

Raphael Pichon and Miguel Henry have taken genuine music from a number of sources to create an imaginary confection organized into four intermedii, each dealing with mythological subject matter. The first one has a general theme, summed up by its title, All’imperio d’Amore (In the Empire of Amore, or Cupid). The second treats the story of Apollo and Dafne, the third Le Lagrime d’Orfeo (The Tears of Orpheus), and the fourth is Il Ballo degli Reali Amanti (The Ballet of Royal Lovers).

The musical sources for this contrivance draw heavily on well-known landmarks. Of the 58 selections, 10 come from the starting point, La Pellegrina, involving composers Cristofano Malvezzi (1547-99), Luca Marenzio (1553-99), and Emilio de’ Cavalieri (c.1550-1602). But 6 items come from what is often called the first surviving opera, the Euridice (1600) of Jacopo Peri (1561-1633), and 2 from the parallel Euridice of his rival Giulio Caccini (1551-1618), as well as 5 from the Dafne (1608) of Marco da Gagliano (1582-1643). Three items are taken from Caccini’s Rapimento di Cefalo (1600). But the reach goes back even before 1589 with one selection each from I Fabii (Florence, 1568) and the significantly titled Stravaganza d’Amore (Rome, 1585), involving composers Alessandro Striggio (c.1536-92) and Marenzio. There are also free-floating selections by Girolamo Fantini (1600-75, Marenzio, Antonio Brunelli (1577-1630), Alessandro Orologio (c.1550-1633), Lorenzo Allegri (1567-1648), and Giovanni Battista Buonamente (c.1595-1602).
 

All of this adds up, in blunt fact, to a hodge-podge. One might take the editors at their word and actually follow the structures and stories of these artificial intermedii, which will certainly be enjoyable. Or one may take it as just one big concert of late-16th and early-17th Century vocal and even instrumental music, with a variety of types represented. There are pieces that reflect the traditions of the Italian madrigal, some that illustrate late Renaissance lute song, and goodly demonstrations of the early monodic idiom out of which came the mature solo-singing portrayal of specific dramatic characters. Even just taken as a big concert, the musical contents here are a grand feast. Their enjoyability comes, of course, from the real artistry Pichon has mustered for this venture. There are 12 solo singers in all, seemingly young ones, who take roles, big and small, with handsome singing and fine expressive effects. I found particular joy in the work of the chorus of 24 mixed voices, who bring to life excitingly a lot of terrific music. The “orchestra” consists of 27 period-instrument players who serve a variety of duties with unfailing color and precision. The set is packaged in a book-bound album of oblong size, containing extensive background essays in French, English, and German, sprinkled with lovely illustrations, and—most important—full sung texts with translations. In sum, I find this an absolutely delightful release in every way.


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