Banchieri - Il Festino Del Giovedi Grasso - Concerto Italiano, Alessandrini

Late Renaissance Italian composer Adriano Banchieri was a Benedictine monk and the greatest exponent of madrigal comedy, a bawdy, satirical forerunner to comic opera. His work consists of secular madrigals, sacred vocal music, and a small amount of instrumental music; he also led an early orchestra of which Claudio Monteverdi  was a member. Banchieri was a key proponent of figured bass realization and left an indispensable treatise on the subject; likewise, he significantly contributed to the use of expression marks in musical notation. Banchieri's madrigal comedies remain tremendously entertaining, partly through their use of animal noises and mixed dialects.

 

 

The principal piece in this album is called: "The Feast of Fat Thursday" (as opposed to good Friday). It is a series of small jewels of witty, iconoclastic numbers. Be ready for dogs, cats and cuckoo's in this carnival-type feast. Wonderful humor for those who understand Italian, burlesque fun for all others, all within the typical resources of period Italian music: a small orchestral ensemble and choir. Artistic performance is first class, recording quality among the finest I have come across. Who said Italian musical fun began with Rossini?

 

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Bach JS - The Art of Fugue-Keyboard concertos - Concerto Italiano, Alessandrini

Rinaldo Alessandrini has established himself first and foremost as a masterly interpreter of Italian Early Music - especially so as a Monteverdian. So his forray into the world of German Baroque is a move that was always bound to infuse something fresh and exciting into this repertoire, especially given the heavy Italian influence that the German composers of this time clearly demonstrate. The performances here live up to - and surpass - all expectations. In fact the interpretation here of 'die Kunst der Fuge' (or should I say L'Arte della Fuga!) is perhaps the finest I have heard. The work is mostly performed for a chamber ensemble of Baroque instruments thought some pieces are played for harpsichord alone by Alessandrini. So this recording of Bach's ultimate work - the concluding chapter of his Clavierübungen, and Encyclopedia of Music - is an absolute must for all Bach lovers.

 

 

As for the second CD, to have the Keyboard Concertos thrown in, is an embarrassment of riches. The performances have wonderful vigor and zest in abundance. Tempi and phrasing have that rare sense of absolute rightness about them. The recording sound quality both here and in the Kunst der Fuge is well up to the audiophile grade quality that you tend to take granted from Opus 111.—Sator

 

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