Search - Sergio Vartolo :: Vecchi: Amfiparnaso (L')

Deserves To Be A Naxos Best Seller.

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 12/02/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here is a delightful hour's listening to something written and first performed more than 400 years ago. Vecchi's "L'Amfiparnaso" is believed to be an attempt to present a musical setting of the "commedia dell'arte", the enormously popular entertainment seen at village fairs throughout Europe in the late sixteenth century, especially in and around Vecchi's home town, Modena. It is furthermore believed that in this work the actors, dressed in the traditional costumes, spoke their lines in front of a curtain behind which were the singers. All of which suggests that the birth of opera as we know it was not far away. Indeed, geographically and chronologically, opera was born close by at Mantua and soon after in 1607. The spoken parts in this 1594 work are allocated to actors but all the vocal music is in madrigal form. Perhaps the work is best categorised as a "madrigal comedy". This Naxos production is a complete success. Keith Anderson provides helpful notes and a complete English translation of the text. The Bologna personnel who perform the work are listed. Duration: 57 minutes. This deserves to be a Naxos best seller."