Le Tre Soprano
Jeannette Sorrell has released a new recording featuring baroque music inspired from Italy (and Spain). The program is formed around the concept of the three ladies of Ferrara. The music isn’t strictly all vocal in nature, featuring instrumental numbers by Falconieri, Marini, Diego Ortiz, and the lutenist, Alessandro Piccinini. While I think the total time for this recital is short at just under an hour, both the vocal and instrumental contributions are first-rate.
The vocalists are Amanda Forsyth, Amanda Crider, and Amanda Powell (what are the chances they’d all share the same name!). While the vibrato used among them raised my eyebrows a few times, there’s no doubt in their conviction for the text and their attempts to move their audience. The instrumental numbers benefit from the contribution of the two violinists, Francisco Fullana and Emi Tanabe. Continuo support includes harp, lute, theorbo and guitar in addition to cello and harpsichord. Percussion even appears, from Anthony Taddeo, giving this album some resemblance to early L’Arpeggiata productions.
One of the pieces performed is Marini’s Passcalio op. 22, which here I think is played extremely too quickly. Marini’s Sonata sopra Fuggi dolente core is equally fast, but in this case, I think the tempo was well-chosen.
Several pieces presented here feature ground bass dances, such as Monteverdi’s Quel sguardo sdegnosetto from his Scherzi musicale from 1632.
The album ends with a riveting number, Un Sarao de la Chacona featuring all three singers and percussion. The earlier piece that introduced this energy is presented in the third track, a piece by Falconieri that has been arranged by their cellist, René Schiffer. The three singers are also brought together for the fifth track’s piece, from one of Luzzaschi’s madrigals. This piece well-characterizes the vocalists’ strengths, with diction and command of the Italian language. They also blend well as a trio, with sensitivity with each other’s sound and dynamics.
The album’s sonics might be better; but for most pieces there’s not much background air. The fifteenth track doesn’t present the most up-front intimacy in a Spanish piece that recalls the familiar Christmas piece we know as Greensleeves. When the strings come in, the sonics improve.
The liner notes make sense of the history of this music, connecting it all in a way that departs, for me, the story of the three ladies from Ferrara. Nevertheless, this is music that speaks to my desire for this ensemble to outgrow the typical audience favorites. Here they’ve done that, bringing in a far more exotic sound to their programming.
I liked this album, despite the vibrato use by the singers. For some, this may be a sampler opening up exploration of some of the music and composers in more detail. They’ve managed to make this music and the period more accessible.
