FEBRUARY 2020 | The Archduke's Consort: Scherzi amorosi | Nixe Records
FEBRUARY 2020 | The Archduke's Consort: Scherzi amorosi | Nixe RecordsBY RAY PICOT
The epicentre of European music during the renaissance and baroque periods was undoubtedly Italy, from where composers and musicians were in demand throughout the courts of Europe. In Scherzi amorosi, The Archduke’s Consort explore a wide range of mainly Italian vocal music over the 16th and 17th centuries, through the themes of love lost and won. They also uncover strong links with Spain, not least through both Ortiz and Ganz, who worked as part of the court of the Spanish Viceroy in the Kingdom of Naples. In turn, Spanish music was becoming influential, as one can hear in some of the instrumental music and the Kapsberger songs.
We hear an attractive selection of songs, interspersed with instrumental pieces, not all of it well known, from luminaries of the day, including Caccini, Kapsberger, Monteverdi and Ortiz alongside some lesser known figures. The composers traverse the period of the late renaissance and early baroque, with inevitable stylistic changes, that are managed with imperceptible adjustments between tracks, so you hardly notice that you have moved from (say) 1536 to 1619. All the dates of the pieces are listed in the booklet with details of the composers, the original publications’ dates so you can quickly find where you are historically.
The Archduke’s Consort are an early music group of English and Spanish musicians: Fiona Stuart-Wilson (soprano), Kepe Artexe (violin), Guillermo Femenias (renaissance lute, archlute, baroque guitar) and Xisco Aguiló (violone da gamba). They are individually highly regarded specialists in this field of music, and together produce something quite special. The Consort perform regularly throughout Europe, consistently garnering favourable reviews, and their easy familiarity with the repertoire, translates into this recording through intimate settings that are both unforced and natural, in short a real listening pleasure.
The instrumental trio vary their textures with great subtlety, and never overwhelm the vocal line, sounding like a quartet of equals. The acoustic is slightly resonant, but nonetheless clear and warm, allowing the easy charm of their music-making to draw you into their world.
I was particularly admired the beautifully enunciated phrasing of Fiona Stuart-Wilson, who has a wonderful expressive tone; passionate without becoming over dramatic, allowing the music to speak naturally.
Though not commented on in the booklet notes, the scores for this music frequently call upon a degree of invention and decoration by the participants, and in this respect the Consort is a model of subtlety and restraint, but never dull. The small scale instrumental pieces are attractive, though the trio flourish in the richly scored and extended Sonata seconda a soprano solo by Dario Castello. The intertwining solo lines never get lost in the grandeur of the music’s concept.
The stated intention of The Archduke’s Consort, is to bring an informal and accessible approach to this era of music, and that is admirably achieved on this album, which I warmly recommend. I found the hour running time to be just right an album of 21 tracks, for this repertoire. The texts with English translations are not included in the booklet, but available on-line from nixerecords.com Otherwise, the booklet contains straightforward programme notes, though no information about the artists, to which I direct you to the ensemble’s own website, from where you can also buy the CD thearchdukesconsort.com To download the album go to store.cdbaby.com
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