In this third survey of their Monteverdi madrigals, I Fagiolini once again demonstrate the astonishing range of the composer’s secular art, leading us from the works of his early Mantuan maturity to the Baroque glories of his Venetian years, before returning us to the seconda pratica in Il Ballo dell’ Ingrate.

 

MONTEVERDI SERIES, VOLUME 3: SWEET TORMENT – I FAGIOLINI

In this their third volume of madrigals by Monteverdi I Fagiolini demonstrate the astonishing range of his secular art, leading us from the works of his early Mantuan maturity to the baroque glories of his later Venetian years, before returning us to an example of his earlier approach to the seconda pratica: the Ballo delle Ingrate. The reviewer of The Daily Telegraph commented on Volume 1 of this series: ‘Whether in impassioned monologues or ecstatic ensemble pieces, I Fagiolini’s superbly responsive singing gives this collection of some of Monteverdi’s most vividly expressive madrigals a wonderful air of emotional spontaneity.’ Offering the listener contemporary passion and scholarship, in this series I Fagiolini accept the challenge set by pre-eminent Italian groups in the repertoire. This is Monteverdi for both the seventeenth and twenty-first centuries.