Academy of Ancient Music; Jonathan Cohen director, keyboards; Anna Prohaska soprano; James Gilchrist tenor; Benjamin Hulett tenor

Performers

Academy of Ancient Music

Jonathan Cohen

director, keyboards

Anna Prohaska

soprano

James Gilchrist

tenor

Benjamin Hulett

tenor

Programme

Falconieri

Ciaccona in G major

Monteverdi

‘Zefiro Torna’ from Madrigali e canzonette a due e tre voci

Monteverdi

‘Se vittore si belle’ from Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi

Castello

Sonata No.15 à 4 from Sonate Concertate in Stile Moderno Libro Secondo

Cavalli

Restino Imbalsamente from 'La Calisto'

Monteverdi

‘Ardo e scoprir’ from Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi

Monteverdi

Act 1 Scene 2 of Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria

B Marini

Passacaglio in G minor from Sonate da Chiesa e da Camera

Monteverdi

Ohimé ch’io cado, ohimé

Zanetti

Saltarello della Battaglia

Monteverdi

Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda

About this concert

At the heart of the first Italian cantatas was a new and astonishing emphasis on the voice. This was a revolution built on theory and scholarship, but above all on deeply-felt emotions laid bare through this most human of instruments — for example in Monteverdi’s joyous celebration of spring in ‘Zefiro Torna’.

Instrumental music of thrilling inventiveness intersperses the programme, which culminates in Monteverdi’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. Here love and war collide to startling dramatic and musical effect, and an age-old tale is brought vividly to life through this freshly-minted form.