Leila Schayegh / La Cetra Barockorchester Basel JEAN-MARIE LECLAIR Concerti per Violino Opp. 7 & 10 - Nos. 2 & 6

                                   CONCERTI PER VIOLINO OPP. 7 & 10 - NOS. 2 & 6

Leila Schayegh / La Cetra Barockorchester Basel JEAN-MARIE LECLAIR Concerti per Violino Opp. 7 & 10 - Nos. 1 & 3

                                    CONCERTI PER VIOLINO OPP. 7 & 10 - NOS. 1 & 3

The Beauty of MONTEVERDI

A selection of Monteverdi’s masterpieces presenting a survey of the Italian master’s most important sacred and secular works through acclaimed recordings from the Yellow Label.
The perfect introduction for those new to Monteverdi whilst satisfying the thirst of connoisseurs.
2 CDs celebrating Monteverdi’s 450th Anniversary on May 15th 2017.

Magdalena Kožená / La Cetra / Andrea Marcon MONTEVERDI

In 2000 Magdalena Kožená took over from an ailing Anne Sofie von Otter as Nero in the Vienna Festival production of L’incoronazione di Poppea, not only saving the day but also scoring a great personal success. And yet a deeper connection to Monteverdi and his music can be traced to a far earlier date, as the singer herself recalls: “I was sixteen when I met a lutenist with whom I formed an ensemble for Baroque and Renaissance music. It was a very important experience for me, for not only did I learn the Italian language through these pieces, but I discovered a great deal about the style of the music of this period and about the way in which it is ornamented.” Since then Magdalena Kožená has explored the world of opera in far greater depth. Not only has she sung Mozart, she has also appeared in productions of Carmen, Pelléas et Mélisande and Der Rosen- kavalier. “So it’s more of a romantic repertory,” the singer explains. “But this doesn’t mean that I have banished Monteverdi from my life. I return to him again and again and I feel at home with him.” In short, the present recording marks the singer’s return to her original repertory. She is accompanied here by Andrea Marcon, with whom she has already recorded Vivaldi and Handel recitals. For Magdalena Kožená this artistic partnership represents a great gain: “Andrea has a lot of experience in this repertory, and he is also a very spontaneous sort of person: his music-making is always highly charged and full of surprises. Of course we rehearse before a concert or in advance of a recording and agree on the basic interpretation. But we know each other so well that we can then allow ourselves the freedom to improvise. This works only with certain people and only in Baroque music – for me it’s a bit like jazz, where musicians react spontaneously to the spirit of the moment.”

Patricia Petibon NOUVEAU MONDE Baroque Arias and Songs

With Christopher Columbus (yes, him from 1492) joining Harnoncourt, William Christie and Savall on the dedicatees’ list, Petibon’s new release explodes like an alt-folk concept album. As Basle’s La Cetra, plus certain South American obbligato instruments, Baroque and baroll behind the French soprano, it can get loud – José de Nebra’s opening zarzuela aria (1744) sounds like an attempt at all four Handel Coronation Anthems in less than six minutes while Petibon’s contribution mixes a tale of shipwrecked love with yelping early salsa-style vocalises. For contrast there’s a serene ‘Greensleeves’ and a wonderful, painfully impassioned (if exotically pronounced) ‘When I am laid in earth’ – with most imposing continuo – to vary the emotional dynamic. Then the mocking demons in Charpentier’s Médée and their grungy accompaniment (the effect accentuated by the timbre of the ancient instruments) sound like evident contemporaries of Purcell’s witches and sailors. Andrea Marcon’s band rightly get a break of their own, a dance actually, in further Charpentier before their whistles and thundersheets kick up the storm that nearly overwhelms heroine Emilie in Les Indes galantes. We may be on the way to a ‘new world’ – Petibon’s booklet interview links up influences which include Brazilian rock radio, Michael Haneke’s Don Giovanni and Cortés’s Conquistadors – and we reach it eventually at Purcell’s ‘Fairest isle’ (the English again rather special) but there’s sure plenty of well-acted vocal heartbreak on the way. And folk rock – try the version of the traditional ‘J’ai vu le loup’ or the Peruvian ‘Tornada La Lata’.

Like her equally Spanish-tinged ‘Melancolia’ album – but with totally other colours – ‘Nouveau monde’ is a tightly thought-through and arranged and compelling programme, a tour de force for its performer/ compiler, most atmospherically recorded (Rainer Maillard) in Basle’s Martinskirche. Compulsive, repeatable listening.

(Mike Ashman)