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Claudio Monteverdi, Primo libro de madrigali, a cinque voci

1. Ch’ami la vita mia nel tuo bel nome

2. Se per avervi, ohimè, donato il core

3. A che tormi il ben mio

4. Amor, per tua mercé vattene a quella

5. Baci soavi e cari

6. Se pur non mi consenti

7. Filli cara ed amata

8. Poiché del mio dolore

9a. Fumia la pastorella (Part 1)

9b. Almo divino raggio (Part 2)

9c. All’hora i pastor tutti (Part 3)

10. Se nel partir da voi

11. Tra mille fiamme e tra mille catene

12. Usciam, ninfe, omai fuor di questi boschi

13. Questa ordì il laccio

14. La vaga pastorella

15. Amor s’il tuo ferire

16. Donna s’io miro voi, giaccio divengo

17. Ardo, sì, ma non t’amo

18. Ardi o gela a tua voglia (risposta)

19. Arsi ed alsi a mia voglia (contra risposta)

Les Arts Florissants perform Monteverdi: Madrigals, Book I

The complete Monteverdi madrigals – Paul Agnew, conductor

Concert
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Cast

Les Arts Florissants

Paul Agnew — Conductor, tenor

Miriam Allan — Soprano

Hannah Morrison — Soprano

Marie Gautrot — Contralto

Sean Clayton — Tenor

Lisandro Abadie — Bass

Program notes

The Arts Florissants begin to perform Monteverdi's complete madrigals at the Cité de la Musique: the First Book in this concert.

Written in 1587, Monteverdi's First Madrigals Book is dedicated to the count Marco Verità, poet and patron of the arts in Verona. Monteverdi was nineteen years old then, and might have wanted to work for him; his dedication offers the count a set of "young compositions," compared with "spring flowers."

The book bears the marks of Marenzio's pastoral influence, and Luzzaschi's dissonant writing style; this is evident with Baci soavi e cari, composed after a poem by Guarini. One of the best-known pieces from the book is, with no doubt, The vaga pastorella, which opens on a series of jumps describing the shepherdess in a field, before the music slides into introspection. Here as elsewhere, joy alternates with the tears: in Filli cara ed amata, the exclamation Ahi! ("alas!") results in a few bars of strong dissonances.

This concert opened the complete Monteverdi Madrigals series performed by Les Arts Florissants conducted by Paul Agnew at the Cité de la Musique, the théâtre de Caen and the Valladolid Centro Cultural Miguel Delibes.

Les Arts Florissants are supported by the Ministry of Culture and Communication, la Ville de Caen and the Région Basse-Normandie. They are in residency at the théâtre de Caen. Imerys is the great benefactor of Les Arts Florissants.

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