Don't let anyone tell you that YouTube videos can't sell albums. I caught this while YouTube surfing the other day, and found it was a recent release and picked it up via iTunes. Wow. While Philippe Jaroussky is a featured singer, the album features others beyond him including some talented instrumentalists. But as the clip above demonstrates, they're aren't playing "straight." Who knows, while my undergraduate professor, a Monteverdi expert, might grow dizzy upon hearing this, I think it's rather refreshing. We've gone through in the past 60 years several stages of the "authentic" or "historical" movement, and each progression forward seems to blow more dust off the music of the past than the one before it. I think knowing the straight version is important, but once you know how to do that, what law is impeding the fun that can take place with our own brand of creativity and authenticity? This is a great CD. From the example above, to the toccata from L'Orfeo, to the closing track, my favorite Zefiro Torna, this is a great album. Above all, because so many of the tracks are familiar but also strikingly fresh.
I love music.
I write about the music I like and have purchased for the benefit of better understanding it and sharing my preferences with others.