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Concerto Italiano

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Concerto Italiano is an Italian early music ensemble, known for its performances of Monteverdi and Vivaldi. The harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini founded the group. The ensemble plays according to the principles of historically informed performance practice: with the instruments and playing styles of the time in which the music originated. In 1984 it made its debut in Rome with La Calisto by Francesco Cavalli.

Music and breakthrough

In the 1990s the group recorded the madrigals of Monteverdi. The Quarto Libro dei Madrigali appeared in 1993, Il sesto libro de madrigali in 1992. Those recordings won many prizes, including three Gramophone Awards. Palestrina, Cavalli and other early composers also appear in the list, with titles such as Arie Musicali and Cain, overo il primo omicidio. The ensemble recorded for Opus 111, which now belongs to the French label Naïve.

Influence

Later the group devoted itself to Vivaldi. Together with the university library of Turin, Concerto Italiano recorded all of Vivaldi's operas and concertos, many pieces of which had not been played for more than three hundred years. According to Gramophone, Le Quattro Stagioni was one of the best performances of that work. For the Vespri Solenni per la Festa dell'Assunzione di Maria Vergine the group received a Gramophone Award in 2004. In this way Concerto Italiano showed that Baroque music from Italy can sound passionate and dramatic.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a madrigal by Monteverdi, for example from the Quarto Libro dei Madrigali. Notice how the singers bring the text to life with small shifts in tempo and sound.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists