DG records continue celebrating this year, the 450th anniversary of Monteverdi’s birth. He was hailed as inventor of the opera form of music, who was called ‘‘Il divino Claudio’’ by his fellow Italians. There are some gems culled from the outstanding set Vespers of the Blessed Virgin (reviewed on April 15) plus a wide selection from many other recordings to show the brilliance of this man whose sacred music and madrigals laid the foundations of Italian baroque music and should never be forgotten.
In this generous selection (30 tracks in all) we also hear other examples of his best music: the operas L’Orfeo and The Coronation of Poppea, the famous Lamento d’Arianna (a monologue of L’Arianna, a lost opera), several madrigals (including Lamento della ninfa) and other selected pieces of sacred music.
The programme boasts some of the top singers, instrumentalists and conductors of early music. To drop just some names: Anna Prohaska, Emma Kirkby, Sylvia McNair, Magdalena Kozena, Anne Sofie von Otter, Bernarda Fink, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Nigel Rogers, John Tomlinson, David Thomas, The Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Gabrieli Consort & Players, Musicke Concert, John Eliot Gardiner, Paul McCreesh, Andrea Marcon and Anthony Rooley.
Monteverdi was born in Cremona, where Stradivarius and Amati made their violins, and his forebears may have included lute-makers.
"The aim of all good music is to affect the soul," the composer wrote.
He achieved this aim beautifully not only in inspiring works like Vespers (1610) but also in opera and books of wide-ranging madrigals: musical rivals to the sonnets of Shakespeare.
Verdict: Well-titled musical treat.
- Geoff Adams
