ORFEO - CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI - favola in musica - SAVALL

Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643).

Claudio Monteverdi was born in 1567 in Cremona, in Northern Italy. During his childhood, he was taught by Marc'Antonio Ingegneri, the maestro di cappella or singing master, at the Cathedral of Cremona. He wrote his first music for publication, some motets and sacred madrigals, in 1582 and 1583 and by 1587 had produced his first book of secular madrigals. Between 1590 and 1611, Monteverdi worked at the court of Vincenzo I of Gonzaga in Mantua as a vocalist and viol player. 1602 was working as the court conductor.

By 1613 Monteverdi had moved to the San Marco in Venice where, as conductor, he quickly restored the musical standard of both the choir and instrumentalists, which had declined due to the financial mismanagement of his predecessor, Giulio Cesare Martinengo. The managers of the basilica were relieved to have such a distinguished musician in charge, as the music had been in decline since the death of Giovanni Croce in 1609.

Monteverdi was ordained a Catholic priest in 1632 and during the last years of his life, when he was often ill, he composed his two last masterpieces, both operas. Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses, 1641), and the historic opera L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea, 1642), based on the life of the Roman emperor Nero. L'incoronazione especially is considered a culminating point of Monteverdi's work; it contains tragic, romantic, as well as comic scenes (a new development in opera), a more realistic portrayal of the characters, and warmer melodies than had previously been heard. It requires a smaller orchestra, and has a less prominent role for the choir.

Monteverdi died in Venice on November 29, 1643 and is buried in the church of the Frari.

L'Orfeo:

L'Orfeo (L'Orfeo, favola in musica, SV 318, or La Favola d'Orfeo, or The Legend of Orpheus) is one of the earliest works recognized as an opera, composed by Claudio Monteverdi with text by Alessandro Striggio for the annual carnival of Mantua. It was first performed before the Accademia degl'Invaghiti on 24 February 1607 in a now unidentifiable room in the ducal palace at Mantua, and was published in Venice in 1609. The opera saw its modern debut on 25 February 1904 in a concert version in Paris directed by Vincent d'Indy.

Le Concert des Nations.
La Capella Reial de Catalunya.

Montserrat Figueras (La Musica).
Fulvio Bettini (Orfeo).
Arianna Savall (Euridice).
Sara Mingardo (Messagiera).
Cécile van de Sant (Speranza).
Antonio Abete (Caronte).
Adriana Fernandez (Proserpina).
Daniele Carnovich (Plutone).
Fulvio Bettini (Apollo).
Mercedes Hernandez (Ninfa).
Marilia Vargas (Eco).
Gerd Türk (Pastores & Espiritus)
Francesc Garrigosa (Pastores & Espiritus).
Carlos Mena (Pastores & Espiritus).
Ivan Garcia (Pastores & Espiritus).

Dir. Jordi Savall.