Search - Giovanni Paolo Cima, Music Figurata, Lorenzati :: Cima: Concerti Ecclesiastici / Musica Figurata

In his day (the early 17th century), Giovanni Paolo Cima was nearly as respected as Monteverdi. But, owing largely to his legendary reluctance to publish his music, Cima is nearly forgotten today--his only remotely familiar works are two captivating sonatas (one for violin and bass, the other for cornet, violin, and violone) that keep finding their way onto recordings of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 (such as those by William Christie and Andrew Parrott). The Florence- based ensemble Musica Figurata, another product of the extraordinary flowering of early music in Italy in the 1990s, tries to redress that situation with this first recording devoted entirely to Cima. The selections, all taken from the composer's 1610 publication Concerti Ecclesiatici, include (besides the two Sonatas) four-voice motets in counterpoint that harks back to Palestrina; instrumental canzonas for recorders or brass that echo Gabrieli; and beguiling motets for one or two voices--including an echo motet in which male alto Alessandro Carmignani does an extraordinary job matching the sound of (female) soprano Santina Tomasello. --Matthew Westphal