Loading home…
This is the music composed for an extravagant wedding ceremony between Ferdinando de' Medici and Christine of Lorraine on May the 2nd 1589. These musical sections were intermezzi's for a showing of the comedy La Pellegrina by Girolamo Bargagli. The visual aspect of the spectacle was entrusted to Bernardo Buontalenti. We are lucky to have contemporary accounts both of the staging and of the musical performance which made a video such as this possible. This spectacle was one of the turning points in the transition from renaissance to baroque aesthetics in the world of music and theatre. In this 1986 recording the Taverner Consort, Choir & Players are conduced by Andrew Parrott. The extensive cast of wonderful early music specialists includes Emma Kirkby, Tessa Bonner, Emily Van Evera, Evelyn Tubb (sopranos), Mary Nichols, Terry Anderson, Catherine Woolf (altos), Nigel Rogers, Andrew King, Mark Padmore, Charles Daniels, Rogers Covey-Crump (tenors), Alan Ewing, John Milne, Richard Wistreich (basses) and many more marvelous singers which I will omit for want of space. The program features this music: Intermedio I - The Harmony of the Spheres Antonio Archilei / Emilio de' Cavalieri: Dalle piu alte sfere Cristofano Malvezzi: Noi, che, cantando a 8 Malvezzi: Sinfonia a 6 Malvezzi: Dolcissime Sirene a 6 Malvezzi: Non mai tanto splendore a 6 Malvezzi: A voi, reali Amanti a 6 cori Malvezzi: Coppia gentil a 6 Intermedio II - Apollo Slays the Monster at Delphi Marenzio: Qui di carne si sfama a 12 Marenzio: O valoroso Dio a 4 Marenzio: O mille volte mille a 8 Intermedio III - The Golden Age is Foretold Giulio Caccini: Io, che dal Ciel cader Malvezzi: Sinfonia a 6 Malvezzi: Or che le due grand'Aime a 6 Giovanni de' Bardi: Miseri abitator a 5 Intermedio IV - Arion and the Dolphin Malvezzi: Io, che l'onde raffreno Malvezzi: E noi, con questa bella diva a 5 Malvezzi: Godi, Coppia Reale a 5 Malvezzi: Che vede uscir da voi a 5 Malvezzi: E discacciar dal mondo a 3 Malvezzi: Onde fara ritorno a 5 Girolamo Fantini: Fanfara Malvezzi: Sinfonia a 6 Jacopo Peri: Dunque fra torbide onde Malvezzi: Lieti solcando il mare a 7 Intermedio V - Jove's Gift to Mortals of Rhythm and Harmony Malvezzi: Dal vago e bel sereno a 6 Malvezzi: O quale, O qual risplende a 6 Cavalieri: Godi, turba mortal Malvezzi: O fortunato giorno a 7 cori Cavalieri: O che nuovo miracolo a 5 ; a 3 Subscribe! Subscribe! Subscribe! :)