9 Cipriano de Rore – Vieni, dolce Imeneo – 2019
Chaque vers est admirablement ciselé, que ce soit dans son élocution ou dans son phrasé. Chaque mot en chaque voix se voit paré de son expression propre, tandis que le contrepoint résonne avec une pureté admirable, en particulier dans les denses madrigaux à cinq voix, la plupart du temps proposés dans un radieux a cappella.
(Denis Morrier, Diapason)
The sinuous but chordal chromaticism of ‘Sebben il duol’ has a magical ring to it, foreshadowing the later madrigalists while retaining the formal lucidity that characterises his output. For me this is one of the standouts, but the entire collection is perhaps the best introduction to Cipriano now available. At its best it equals anything that has been done in this repertory by the other ensembles in which these hugely experienced singers have sung: the tuning of the stately yet intimate ‘Alma Susanna’ positively rings, and the formal severity of ‘O sonno’ is wonderfully legible.
(Fabrice Fitch, Gramophone)
These performances are as good and as thrilling as you will hear on any disc of this repertoire. I have played over ‘Sebben il duol’ and ‘O sonno’ several times, largely in admiration of how the text is subtly and movingly worked into the counterpoint and harmonies. It is highly sophisticated, refined and sensitive.
(Gary Higginson, MusicWeb International)
8 Claudio Monteverdi – Vespro della Beata Vergine – 2017
This is a performance that reveals the immense beauty of the work, relishes the tensions of its interweaving lines and, within its chosen parameters, releases the madrigalian freedom of its ensemble declamation. Neither does it lack grandeur: the doxology at the end of ‘Laetatus sum’ is a massive outburst, the Sonata sopra Sancta Maria is grandly shaped, and the ‘Amen’ of the Magnificat is a hugely impressive terraced crescendo.
(Lindsay Kemp, Gramophone)
Il risultato è di sorprendente bellezza ed esalta la straordinaria qualità della musica di Monteverdi facendo respirare ogni singola linea melodica e risaltare i colori vocali e i timbri strumentali attraverso un rallentamento dei tempi di esecuzione che rispetta i valori originali della partitura, con un consistente uso del legato e uno sfrondamento delle ornamentazioni vocali non prescritte dal compositore.
(Paolo Scarnecchia, Giornale della Musica)
This ecstatic performance by La Compagna del Madrigale, Cantica Symphonia, and La Pifarescha, conducted by Giuseppe Maletto, brings out the drama and passion that still make the Vespers compelling after four centuries, and gives the music a resplendence that elevates it above many other historically informed renditions.
(Blair Sanderson, AllMusic)
Im Endeffekt klingt das alles sehr stimmig, sodass man letzlich dafür dankbar ist, dass Maletto zentrale Fragen noch einmal grundsätzlich aufgeworfen hat.
(Matthias Hengelbrock, Fono Forum)
7 Carlo Gesualdo – Terzo libro di madrigali – 2016
La prise de risque, considérable, se fait presque oublier dans la perfection des six voix funambules. La justesse, du chant comme de l’émotion, met immédiatement l’oreille en confiance – elle ne sera jamais agressée par l’éventail très ample des dynamiques, glissant du forte au soupir en un instant. La fluidité des lignes, l’intelligence des mots captivent l’attention à chaque seconde. Le contrepoint reste lisible jusque dans ses entrelacs les plus complexes.
(Denis Morrier, Diapason)
These singers are especially good at such key moments, where the composer takes the lead. La Compagnia bring out a greater degree of lyricism than their rivals, and many will prefer these readings for that reason alone.
(Fabrice Fitch, Gramophone)
Their account of Gesualdo’s sixth book rightly won plaudits for the skill and ease which they polished off some of the composer’s most tortured writing, and this new release of the third book is no less stunning. … singers, whose performances I cannot imagine being bettered.
(Adrian Horsewood, Early Music Today)
La Compagnia’s customary alertness to the meaning of particular words as well as the narrative is much in evidence. The five voices are joined by a sixth in ‘Donna, se m’ancidete’ and the larger group continues to maintain the same clarity of texture and articulation, as well as excellent tuning.
(Antony Pryer, BBC Music Magazine)
The Italian vocal ensemble La Compagnia del Madrigale finds an ideal balance, giving the piquant dissonances their due, but without exaggerating the strangeness. The singing is one to a part and is captured in a modestly sized church acoustic. The results are vibrant and engaging, the tone bright but warm, and with valuable clarity of texture.
(Gavin Dixon, Classical Ear)
6 Claudio Monteverdi – Il pianto della Madonna – 2016
L’éblouissante performance vocale du quintette (qui a renoncé à tout soutien instrumental) n’est pas seule en cause. Certes, on ne peut qu’être impressionné par la pureté de l’intonation, l’homogénéité des timbres, la cohésion dynamique et la parfaite intelligibilité des paroles.Les motets tirés de l’anthologie publiée par Bianchi en 1620 gagnent avec notre quintette chantant au plus près des mots une souplesse et un puissance d’évocation inédites. En témoigne le Domine ne in furore, qui revêt une violence incroyable, avec un stupéfiant crescendo initial, comme jamais il n’en avait été entendu dans cette œuvre que l’on croyait pourtant bien connaître.
(Denis Morrier, Diapason)
But the main virtue of this issue is obviously the singing of La Compagnia del Madrigale. This is a superb ensemble, with the wonderful Rossana Bertini as first soprano and with Maletto perhaps as the guiding force, though they identify no ‘leader’ as such. Their sound is beautifully focused, with just enough expression to make the best of the music without exaggerating anything. What is also clear is that they are all fully inside Monteverdi’s style and his music.(David Fallows, Gramophone)
As with other recordings by La Compagnia del Madrigale, we get superb tuning (the harmonies strongly secured by the rock-steady bass voice of Daniele Carnovich) and infinitely nuanced renderings of the texts. We get stunning displays of musical understanding outstripping previous recordings in this regard. The sonorities of ‘Stabat virgo Maria’ are beautifully handled, and the singers coax real drama out of ‘Domine, ne in furore’ with its references to the anger and vexations of God.
(Anthony Pryer, BBC Music Magazine)
5 Luca Marenzio – Quinto libro di madrigali a sei voci – 2015
Faut-il détailler une fois de plus la cohésion, la souplesse dynamique et surtout l’intellegibilité que La Compagnia obtient jusque dans les épisodes les plus denses et torturés? Les gestes rhétoriques, les oppositions d’idées et les figures expressives coulent de source avec les experts de La Compagnia, qui peuvent se permettre d’appuyer certains effets dans les débordements enthousiastes – les deux sopranos rivalisent en exclamations aiguës dans l’exubérant Leggiadrissima eterna Primavera. Cette lecture attentive et inspirée touche au grandiose dans la somptueuse canzone Baci soavi e cari.
(Denis Morrier, Diapason)
‘Amatemi ben mio’ and ‘Nel dolce seno della bella Clori’ receive enthralling performances by La Compagnia del Madrigale.The unfurling description of a lover’s kisses permit all kinds of glorious opportunities for the singers’ seemingly telepathic understanding for chiaroscuro, impeccable tuning and innate grammatical sense.
(David Vickers, Gramophone)
This CD by the superb Compagnia del Madrigale is something of a masterclass in madrigal singing. The voices are all, of course, superb in their own right, rounded, supremely expressive and completely stable at whatever dynamic they are singing. However, I went on to detect two further features which I think help with this specific repertoire. The first may seem obvious but is by no means uniformly or even universally regarded as a virtue among small vocal ensembles: this is the rigorous avoidance of vibrato. The second feature is the perfect blend of clearly defined voices, achieved interestingly without a conductor.
(D. James Ross, Early Music Review)
Here working without a director, the singers infuse their accounts with the true spirit of chamber music and, as native speakers, are highly responsive to the drama and nuances of the texts. They sigh and whisper, caress and enfold you in voluptuous textures, offering ardent and expressive readings to convey heady emotions and vibrant imagery. The sound is lush but never forced, individual lines are sharply etched while ensemble and intonation are flawless.
(Kate Bolton, BBC Music Magazine)
La Compagnia del Madrigale ist momentan wohl das weltbeste Madrigalensemble. Ich habe den bisher erschienenen Aufnahmen alle die Note eins gegeben; diese Neuaufnahme ist vom gliech hohen Niveau. Ich kann mir keine bessere Interpretation dieser Madrigale vorstellen. Die Stimmen mischen sich perfekt, die Aussprache ist sehr klar und deswegen kommt jedes Detail zum Tragen. Diese CD bietet Gesang vom Feinsten.
(Toccata)
Die erfahrenen italienischen Sänger der Compagnia del Madrigale bringen es als ‘native speaker’ allerdings auch zu einer Unmittelbarkeit, die ihresgleichen sucht. In höchster Konzentration erleben wir ein Mit- und Ineinander von Wort und Musik, das uns heute (schon wieder) ebenso revolutionär erscheinen könnte wie winerzeit.
(Michael Wersin, Rondo)
Nicht nur hier er weckt die formidable Compagnia del Madrigale alle Zärtlichkeit und Inbrunst, alle Spiegelungen von Sensualität und erlesener Reinheit zu bewegend-bewegtem Leben. Der sanftsamtene Einsatz der tieferen und mittleren Stimmen, der luzide Glanz der Soprane lässt die Musik in beinahe körperhafter Plstizität und Geschmeidigkeit erscheinen. Die überragende Qualität ihrer Aufnahme verdankt sich einer Elastizität der Dynamik vom sonorn, niemals piepsigen oder tupfenden Piano bis zu klarer Fülle, einer homogenen Balance der Timbres, einer unmanierierten Natürlichkeit der Phrasierung und einer rhetorisch gekonnten, aber elegant-unaufdringlichen Nuancierung der Expressivität.
(Martin Mezger, Concerto)
4 Carlo Gesualdo – Responsoria – 2013
Mai à l’écoute de la présente version, réalisée avec solistes, on en vient à douter qu’aucun chœur puisse jamais convaincante. En effet, l’impressionnante souplesse des voix, leurs micro-inflexions de tempo et de dynamiques, ainsi que la richesse impressionnante de la palette sonore, du plus sombre recueillement aux falmoiements grandioses, semblent ici donner sens à chaque détail. Tout semble trouver une cohérence, y compris les audaces les plus brusques: d’un bout à l’autre, le discours est parfaitement maîtrisé, sans que l’on ne perde rien de la violence expressive qui sous-tend l’ensemble du recueil.
(Guillaume Bunel, Classica)
Leur Gesualdo est un modèle de contraste autant que de fluidité. Ils savent que les dissonances et les glissements chromatiques vertigineux de Gesualdo suivent en vérité, sans déroger, les principes du contrepoint modal. L’exhortation indignée se mêle à la douceur apaisante, l’empathie à la majesté, l’agneau de Dieu au vainqueur des ténèbres, le doute individuel au réconfort du dialogue, et tout cela sans rupture, par un art proprement unique de la polyphonie expressive, sur une pulsation libre d’épouser le pouls inégal des émotions.
(Gaëtan Naulleau, Diapason)
Das Ergebnis ist absolut hörenswert: Intonationserinheit auch in komplizierten Passagen ist kein Thema, die klangliche Homogenität ist ebenfalls bemerkenswert.
(Michael Wersin, Rondo)
3 Luca Marenzio – Primo libro di madrigali – 2013
The singers possess honed skills of listening and responding to each other in order to create exquisite chiaroscuro to convey bittersweet pathos. Time and again as I listened, my jaw dropped at both the quality of Marenzio’s cleverly varied five-voice music and the astonishing sonorities of La Compagnia del Madrigale’s beguiling performances.
(David Vickers, Gramophone)
Enjoyment and understanding of this music is governed by the performances. La Campagnia del Madrigale, recently formed, are superb. They are passionate, beautifully balanced with perfect intonation and clear diction. Their clear understanding of the text is coupled with evident knowledge of where it is going.
(Gary Higginson, MusicWeb International)
La Compagnia virtuose n’est pas moins à l’aise ici qu’il y a quelques mois dans les lairs-obscurs de Gesualdo. La beauté des timbres, la qualité de l’intonation, le ciselé des mélodies et des dynamiques, tout ici donne forme aux émotions les plus subtilement diverses.
(Denis Morrier, Diapason)
La souplesse des tempos, la variété des dynamiques et le souci de justesse expressive dans la diction du texte sont toujours admirables, et l’on est frappé par le naturel émanant de l’ensemble.
(Guillaume Bunel, Classica)
2 Carlo Gesualdo – Sesto libro di madrigali – 2013
Les contorsions doloristes des poèmes ont trouvé leurs maîtres! Le savoir-faire de ces madrigalistes impressionne. L’intonation ne vacille jamais sous les hardiesses de l’harmonie, et leur aisance apporte une suavité troublante à ces partitions que d’autres ont plombées sous les outrances tragiques. Quelles voix! Les timbres sont superbes. L’alternance de trois sopranos plus o moins doux ou brillants répond à la varieté des musiques. La souplesse dynamique est stupéfiante, chaque répétition de mot ou de phrase est modelée par une variation de son, de nuance, de couleur… Le Sixième Livre trouve enfin une version de référence. Du vrai madrigal de cour, au comble de sa pureté et de son raffinement.
(Denis Morrier, Diapason)
L’approche de la Compagnia est d’abord porteuse d’humanité, celle-là-même exhalée par le célèbre et très chromatique Moro lasso, al mio duolo. Seul élément plus ou moins imposé: une volonté esthétisante dont s’accommode finalement sans problème le message humaniste d’un des cycles les plus complexes de la littérature madrigalesque.
(Roger Tellart, Classica)
These extremely accomplished singers make sense of these notoriously wayward and enigmatic works. Musically, they are aided by a secure bass singer (Daniele Carnovich) who anchors every exotic chord in its proper place… They also make the most pictorial and narrative aspects of the texts (as in the little drama about a mosquito in ‘Ardita zanzaretta’), while, in a work such as ‘Mille volte’, they are able to capture the kaleidoscopic thoughts of the poetry, producing clarity of utterance in spite of the intricate counterpoint.
(Anthony Pryer, BBC Music Magazine)
Un’interpretazione accesa, esasperata, virtuosistica, ma anche particolarmente attenta ai particolari della scrittura di Gesualdo.
(Massimo Rolando Zegna, Amadeus)
1 Orlando furioso – Madrigali sul poema di Ludovico Ariosto – 2011
The members of La Compagnia del Madrigale sing these refined andsophisticated madrigals with both fire and grace. They are passionate, full-blooded readings, alive to every musical and poetic nuance. Each voice is of great individual beauty, as an exceptionally vivid recording reveals. I was especially struck by the rich yet highly focused voice of Carzaniga.
(Andrew O’Connor, International Record Review)
Fluidità e flessibilità nella condotta agogica, ricchezza delle dinamiche, chiarezza della dizione, sensibilità espressiva possono essere considerati i pregi di un’esecuzione quanto mai varia, raffinata ed elegante. Si ascoltino, a tacer d’altro, le efficaci sottolineature verbali, i misurati rilievi delle dissonanze, l’autentica magia dei pianissimi a fior di labbra.
(Claudio Bolzan, Musica)
Un’interpretazione capace di approfondire con capacità tecnica, incisività, raffinatezza e sintesi l’essenza unica e individuale di ogni singolo brano.
(Massimo Rolando Zegna, Amadeus)
In the madrigals where the various parts get some independence the voices show their individual qualities. But they also blend perfectly, which comes particularly to the fore in the pieces which are dominated by polyphony. The delivery is very good and moments of strong expression are fully explored.(Johan van Veen, Musica Dei donum)