At the time when his Primo Libri di Madrigali a cinque voci was being published in Venice in 1580, Luca Marenzio was regarded as a rising talent in the Italian musical firmament.

Aged then around 26, he was possessed, by all accounts, of a very sweet vocie, and he probably also played the lute and other instruments. He had previously worked for the Duke of Manuta, Guglielmo Gonzaga, and for the cardinal of Trent, Cristoforo Madruzzo, before passing in the Eternal City, Rome. Marenzio hailed from Coccaglio, a small village near Brescia in an area then subjected to the rule of the Venetian Republic.

In the northern Italy of this period, a significant section of the local aristocracy was especially interested in poetry, music, painting and the sciences. An important network of intellectual societies – the academies – took to promoting the spread of ideas and enabling its members to keep up date with the latest developments in each field. In this environment it did not take long for the talent of the young Luca to be recognized.

Marco Bizzarini

LA COMPAGNIA DEL MADRIGALE

Rossana Bertini, soprano
Francesca Cassinari, soprano
Elena Carzaniga, alto
Giuseppe Maletto, tenor
Raffaele Giordani, tenor
Daniele Carnovich, bass

with:
Paolo Borgonovo, tenor
Marco Ricagno, bass

DETAILS

Total playing time: 67:35
Recorded in Roletto, Italy,
in September 2010 and February 2011
Engineered by Davide Ficco
Produced by CDM
Booklet essay by Marco Bizzarini
English – Français – Italiano – Deutsch

TRACKS

1 Liquide perle Amor
2 Ohimè, dov’è il mio ben
3 Spuntavan già
4 Quando i vostri begl’occhi
5 Tirsi morir volea
6 Dolorosi martir
7 Che fa oggi il mio sole
8 Lasso ch’io ardo
9 Venuta era Madonna
10 Madonna mia gentil
11 Cantava la più vaga pastorella
12 Questa di verd’erbette
13 Partirò dunque
14 O tu che fra le selve

from: Dolci affetti (1582)
15 In quel ben nato
Sestina:
16 Mentre ti fui sì grato (I – Giovanni Maria Nanino)
17 Mentre ti fui sì cara (II – Giovanni Battista Moscaglia)
18 Or pien d’altro desio (III – Luca Marenzio)
19 Or un laccio, un ardore (IV – Giovanni de Macque)
20 Lasso dunque, che fia (V – Francesco Soriano)
21 Benché senza mentire (VI – Annibale Zoilo)