Search - Gregorian Chant, Claudio Monteverdi, Giovanni Felice Sances :: Lamenti Barocchi Vol. 1

Good start to a worthwhile series

12/14/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This series mixes well the well known (on this disc Monteverdi's sacred reworking in Latin of his own operatic 'mega-hit' Lamento d'Arianna) with unknown gems (Rossi's 24'41" long Lamento di Mustafa e Bajazet, the execution song of two Turkish princes). The second piece by Rossi, while excellent, is not really a lament so much as a lovesick pean. Full texts and translations (as in the later volumes also). Recommended."

First of three wonderful volumes of laments

M. J. Smith | Seattle, WA USA | 01/16/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have a passion for musical renditions of the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah. This year, I stumbled onto a marvelous three volume set of baroque lamentations of which this is the first. As usual, Naxos provides solid performances at low cost. The first track is the Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah in Gregorian chant. This is a solid performance ranking well among several solid performances available on cd.The second track is the Lament of the Blessed Virgin on the Lament of Arianna from an opera. This is a wonderful Monteverdi piece that was new to me. The poetry of the words provides an interesting insight into the view of Mary in the Baroque era.Lament on the Passcaglia is a lament of lost love - interesting but more generic "baroque" than the other selections.The Lament of Mustafa and Bayazet is a cantata with narrator, Mustafa, Chorus, Amarat, Bayazet, etc. as separate voices. The lament is of Ottomans awaiting death at the orders of their brothers. The interplay of the words and the music make this an enjoyable piece. The final track is also by Rossi - a love lament that is an interesting, enjoyable piece of Baroque music though not one of the "top ten" masterpieces of the era.The Three Graces to Venus is especially interesting as we rarely here of female baroque composers. However, the piece with its Greek myth inspired words, is rightly included in its own right - independent of gender issues."