Emmanuelle Haïm conducts Monteverdi — With Patrizia Ciofi, Topi Lehtipuu, and Rolando Villazón

"After speaking with her for one and a half minutes, I knew that I would even sing heavy metal for her if she wanted me to," gushed Rolando Villazón after meeting French conductor and harpsichordist Emmanuelle Haïm. A champion of Monteverdi, Handel, Rameau and Purcell, the vibrant Haïm has become one of the leading lights of the early music scene. Trained as a pianist and harpsichordist in Paris, she assisted William Christie before founding Le Concert d'Astrée, which performs on historical instruments. 

In this concert of works by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), powerhouse tenor Villazón proves his all-round mastery of italianità. The main work is the Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, a descriptive piece for three voices based on a text from Torquato Tasso's epic poem Gerusalemme liberata. Joined by Topi Lehtipuu as Tancredi, a Crusader, and Patrizia Ciofi as Clorinda, a Muslim girl, Villazón interprets the role of the narrator with an endless variety of shadings and his customary intensity. Under Haïm's direction, the orchestra spiritedly interprets the highly florid accompaniment, which imitates trotting horses and clashing swords. 

The Combattimento is supplemented with airs from Monteverdi's 1632 Scherzi musicali, shorter madrigalesque pieces based on humorous texts. Punctuating the program are brief interview excerpts with Villazón and Haïm, who explain their understanding of early music. The concert was recorded at the Festival de St. Denis in the Gothic 12th-century Basilica of St. Denis near Paris. This edifice, which inspired the later cathedral of Chartres, provides a dignified background to the contrasting dynamism of Monteverdi's music.