Guy Berger Posted January 14, 2016 Report Posted January 14, 2016 Hey guys, I'm interested in exploring the world of Monteverdi madrigals. Question 1: Is there a strong reason to venture beyond books 4, 5 & 8? Or are those three enough? Question 2: Who do you prefer as performers? The two main options I'm looking at are: Complete madrigals (12 CD box) by La Veneziana <--- overkill? Books 4 & 5 (2 CD set) by Consort of Musicke Thanks! Quote
soulpope Posted January 14, 2016 Report Posted January 14, 2016 3 hours ago, Guy Berger said: Hey guys, I'm interested in exploring the world of Monteverdi madrigals. Question 1: Is there a strong reason to venture beyond books 4, 5 & 8? Or are those three enough? Question 2: Who do you prefer as performers? The two main options I'm looking at are: Complete madrigals (12 CD box) by La Veneziana <--- overkill? Books 4 & 5 (2 CD set) by Consort of Musicke Thanks! The La Venexiana Monteverdi recordings are truly excellent ..... the 12CD box is an overkill ? The answer is, that on one side you have a lot of choices here and on the side it would cost you "an arm and a leg" if trying to buy a couple of these as individual copies. Alternatives? Probably Concerto Italiano with Rinaldo Alessandrini, nevertheless also here availability is an issue .... but still not the the execution doesn`t have the same transparency and phrasing as performed by La Venexiana .... Consort Of Musicke ? IMO not in the same league, but dedictaed followers of Emma Kirkby will try to prove me wrong .... Quote
king ubu Posted January 14, 2016 Report Posted January 14, 2016 love what I've heard of the series by La Venexiana - I've got the single releases actually, and just about when I had them all, the box came out, costing about as much (or little) as the three-disc Ottavo libro alone - so I'd say just get that box, take all the time you need, and maybe some by Concerto Italiano to have comparison (fifth and sixth books maybe? regarding their sixth, I once read somewhere that their earlier recording, done in 1992 and released by Arcana, was superior to the later naïve recording, so I got that earlier one used, certainly a nice disc, but I don't know the naïve recording, got the second and fifth there, the later actually on Opus 111, but that belongs to/was bought by naïve or something) you can also check out Les Arts Florissants under Paul Agnew, they did three discs of excerpts only though (I have one of them only, Vol. 2 / Mantova) re Consort of Musicke I guess I tend to agree, but then it was a disc of their recordings that made me curious enough to go for more, so it's not all bad ... Quote
Guy Berger Posted January 15, 2016 Author Report Posted January 15, 2016 OK! Would love to hear MomsMobley's opinion as well! Quote
mikeweil Posted January 15, 2016 Report Posted January 15, 2016 The Venexiana Box is highly recommended - great value, excellent singing, there is hardly a better ensemble currently on the scene. It's not overkill, they're so good you will want it all, anyway. Quote
soulpope Posted January 15, 2016 Report Posted January 15, 2016 4 hours ago, mikeweil said: The Venexiana Box is highly recommended - great value, excellent singing, there is hardly a better ensemble currently on the scene. It's not overkill, they're so good you will want it all, anyway. yes Quote
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