La Fenice - Natura amorosa (2020) Hi-Res

Nature frozen in winter comes back to life in spring in a burst of sounds, colors, smells and sensations. At the same time the amorous desire, numbed by the cold, manifests itself with new ardor. At the outposts, the birds give the signal to wake up with their songs. Their tweet, infinitely varied and modulated, served as a model for musicians of all time. But it was above all the composers of the late Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the first Baroque who sought to introduce nature into their music and especially the song of birds.

The Natura amorosa album is a tribute to the springtime of the baroque. In the first part, the texts set to music and the instrumental pieces relate directly or indirectly to birds. The nightingale is the most emblematic of all; the sound of the word which designates it (Dolcissimo uscignolo) alone evokes the purest music. The cuckoo (Mentre il cuculo) tirelessly pursues its call in the forest rustling with insects. The melodious song of the dying swan (Il bianco e dolce cigno) with its immaculate whiteness, questions us about our own death. Finally, more prosaically, the feathered guests of the farmyard, including the hen (La gallina), cackle madly. In a second part, it is more generally the nature in spring which is sung by the poet through its sweetest flowers (Soavissimi fiori), the little rose which hides behind its green foliage (O Rosetta che Rosetta), the silence of the dawn which illuminates the meadows studded with flowers (Vedi l'Alba), this same dawn which in May sends waves of love (Hor che l'Alba), these liquid waves which the gentle Zephyr pushes when the dawn reappears in the cerulean sky (Zefira torna).

With five vocal pieces, Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) is by far the best represented composer on this album. The latter is part of the vast project of the ensemble La Fenice and Jean Tubéry to cover Italian music of the 16th and 17th centuries, of which the seven volumes of the The heritage of Monteverdi set represent a major contribution (see the complete chronicle of the set in these columns)

The first track on the album, the famous Song of the Birds by Clément Janequin (1485-1558) involves the entire workforce of La Fenice and opens this concert. Of the four stanzas of this virelai, only the first devoted to birds in general and the third to the nightingale in particular are interpreted. In this essentially polyphonic piece, the two sopranos (Saskia Salembier and Fanie Antonelou), the baritone (Nicolas Achten) and a tenor (Jean Tubéry), first proceed in imitations or canons then engage in tasty contrapuntal games of onomatopoeia. .

Mentre il cuculo by Giuseppe Caïmo (1545-1584). Nothing more joyful and sensual than this cuckoo song which urgently invites the shepherd to leave his beautiful for another nymph. The enamored shepherd (Nicholas Achten) sings a wonderful melody of his warm voice to the attention of Phyllis and Amaryllis (Saskia Salembier and Fanie Antenelou, sopranos) who compete for seductive guests. The singers are accompanied by tasty flutes and a superb baroque cello. We notice in this song and in the following ones that the aesthetic revolution in progress since the end of the 16th century leads to the abandonment of counterpoint in secular music and to an essentially homophone language.

One of the highlights of the CD could well be Il bianco e dolce cigno cantando more (The sweet white swan dies while singing) by Jacques Arcadelt (1504-1568). The music is poignant and the tenor, the baritone and the two sopranos sing it with fervor. A cornet, cello and a sacqueboute complete the harmony. If the sweet white swan dies singing, I sing the end of my days crying ...

In the five-part madrigal by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) Dolcissimo uscignolo, the poet evokes with his harp (Nicolas Achten) the nightingale who thanks to his wings can join his beauty and seduce her with his song, while he, reclusive in his home, calls his companion in vain. The vocal ensemble (two sopranos, a tenor and a baritone) is complete in this melancholy song. Come sei gentile for two sopranos by Claudio Monteverdi. The sopranos sing in imitation or in the third in a voice of admirable purity and are accompanied by the theorbo and the cello. Lovely echo effects give this madrigal a lot of charm.

Song La gallina, a due canti by Tarquinio Merula (1595-1665) and Maritati insieme, il cucu e la gallina fan un bel concerto by Marco Uccellini (1603-1680) are two instrumental pieces, the first for cornet and violin, the second for recorders, cello, harpsichord and harp. The hen, a generally mocked and ridiculed animal, is nevertheless the object of all the attention of the musicians of the first baroque and the times to come. Alessandro Poglietti (? -1683), Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) will imitate his harpsichords and Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) will dedicate two symphonies to him.

One of the wonders of this CD is probably the madrigal Fuggi il vento dei dolori, taken from the collection of Scherzi musicali, in four stanzas, by Monteverdi. This vocal and instrumental masterpiece is remarkable for the delightful euphony of the trio of the two sopranos and baritone to which the violin, flutes, and continuo respond. Nature, life, the softness of the air send with ardor, a pressing invitation to love but the ungrateful Phyllis is deaf to these calls.

Paolo Quagliato's Soavissimi fiori (1555-1628) is an ineffable dialogue between soprano voice and violin accompanied by a continuo that pays homage to the beauty of the flowers that adorn the fields and gardens and delight the view and the smelled. The harmonies are very moving. Also in terms of flowers, Monteverdi treats us to an exquisite canzonetta, O Rosetta, che Rosetta in which the poet uses the metaphor of the rose to characterize his beautiful namesake. Jean Tubery's bright horn, relayed by the recorder, immediately creates a jubilant atmosphere while the two sopranos and the baritone sing each stanza of this strictly homophone song.

The song Vedi l'alba, bella Chlori by Paolo Quagliato is entrusted to the two sopranos (Fanie Antonelou and Saskia Salembier) according to an immutable pattern in the four stanzas. Indeed the second soprano repeats at an interval measure the melancholy song of the first. This work is very elaborate, each stanza is preceded by an instrumental refrain always renewed. The poet pays homage to the nature and beauty of Chloris but Chloris ignores her lover, he could even disappear without her noticing. Hor che l'alba, hor che l'aurora by Biagio Marini (1594-1663), called the nomadic musician, is an ode to the beautiful month of May. The first stanza is entrusted to the baritone, the next two to a soprano. Joy dominates in all three stanzas. The instrumental interludes are played by two flutes, the cello, guitar and a flowered continuo.

The program ended with Zefiro torna (Zephyr returns), a work of Monteverdi's youth. The gentle spring wind makes the grasses undulate, the wave runs, the flowers shine. A chaconne rhythm, a stubborn bass, the female voices in dialogue with Jean Tubery's cornet, create an atmosphere of jubilation. In stark contrast to the above, aggressive dissonances and chromatic slips intervene in the last stanza on the lyrics Son io, per selve abbandonate e sole, but bright vocals and brilliant cornet ranges put an end to this recital.

This music has been performed by singers and instrumentalists of great talent. With his warm baritone voice, Nicolas Achten has been, in turn, enchanting and moving in his incarnation of the poet but he has many other strings to his bow: harp, theorbo, tiorbino, guitar, instruments with which he intervenes as a soloist or in the continuo. Fanie Antonelou delights with her fresh and pure line of vocals that no untimely vibrato disturbs and her airy highs. Saskia Salembier gives the reply, sings solo or in the third with perfect intonation and an enchanting timbre. She mastered the violin part of certain songs. The incarnation by these three artists of the beings (nymphs, shepherdesses, shepherds) who inhabit the forest in spring was stylistically perfect. Katharina Heutjier played the baroque violin part, often perilous by its speed, notably in Fuggi il vento and was brilliantly illustrated on the recorder. Marc Meisel laid the foundations for the musical edifice on the harpsichord and organ. His magnificent harpsichord solos, Corrente la primavera by Martino Pesenti (1600-1647) as well as The Nightingale by an anonymous composer, testified to the extent of his talents. Keiko Gomi was sovereign on her baroque cello with its luminous sonority, notably in the vertiginous features of Hor che l'Alba, Che l'aurora. Finally primus inter pares, Jean Tubery never ceased to amaze with his swift, agile, fine-grained cornet and to surprise with dramatic accents as in the play Il bianco e dolce cigno. Other singers invited themselves between the tracks: Cuculus canorus, Turdus merula and Luscinia megarynchos, better known by their current names: cuckoo, blackbird, nightingale.

The blurb is admirable and its conclusion sobering. The only downside is that the names of the musicians are missing for each piece. It's a shame because it is difficult in these conditions to recognize the flautists, violinists and even the two singers. In this column, the name of Jean Tubéry was attributed by default to the fourth singer.

Jean Tubéry perfectly knows the style of the music played. He gives them the giusto tempo, the most appropriate dynamics, the most harmonious articulation, the most subtle nuances, he adorns them with brilliant colors and the most moving accents. A superbly accomplished record.