Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger: Libro secondo d’arie

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Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger: Libro secondo d’arie

Songs of Human and Divine Love

Catalogue Number: TOCC0027
EAN: 5060113440273
Release Date: 2 April 2006
Duration: 54:04

Libro secondo d’arie

Il-Furioso
Victor Coelho, director

Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger (1580–1651) was one of the most innovative and original composers in early seventeenth-century Rome, and a virtuoso on the lute and chitarrone, or theorbo. His Second Book of Arias, published in Rome in 1623, for one and two voices, are extraordinary works that reveal both his vivid imagination in setting poetry to music, and his flair for dramatic gestures, making him one of the most quintessentially ‘Baroque’ composers of his time.

Booklet texts (PDF)

Track Listing, MP3 Downloads and Streaming Samples

Track No.	Track Title / Details	Duration

	DOWNLOAD COMPLETE ALBUM	54:04

1-19	Libro secondo d’arie (1623) Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, composer Il-Furioso, ensemble Victor Coelho, director, archlute, theorbo Gian Paolo Fagotto, tenor Janet Youngdahl, soprano Julie Harris, soprano Paul Grindlay, bass David Dolata, theorbo Neil Cockburn, harpsichord (first recording)	54:04
1	Voi, che dietro a fallaci	3:28
2	Corrente (Kapsberger, 1626)	2:45
3	Alma che fai, che pensi	3:17
4	Sonata 2.a (Bellerofonte Castaldi, 1622)	1:36
5	Tu dormi	2:00
6	Pargoletto son io	2:31
7	I’vo piangendo i miei passati tempi	5:08
8	Dolcissimo Signore	4:30
9	Canzona (anon.)	2:30
10	T’inaspri à miei lamenti	2:53
11	Dunque con stile lieto, dolcissimo	2:15
12	Pietà di chi si more	2:41
13	Popol diletto mio	1:55
14	Monica (anon.)	2:19
15	Ancora Il Rè nasce piangendo in terra	5:14
16	Toccata (anon.)	1:55
17	O come in van credei	3:18
18	Mustazzin corrente (Castaldi)	1:30
19	Perché Pietà	2:19

Artists

Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, composer

left to right: Neil Cockburn (harpsichord), Paul Grindlay (bass-baritone), Julie Harris (soprano), Janet Youngdahl (soprano), Gian Paolo Fagotto (tenor), David Dolata (theorbo), Victor Coelho (archlute, theorbo and director)

Il-Furioso, ensemble

Victor Coelho, director, archlute, theorbo

Gian Paolo Fagotto, tenor

Janet Youngdahl, soprano

Julie Harris, soprano

Paul Grindlay, bass

David Dolata, theorbo

Neil Cockburn, harpsichord

Reviews

this is as good a recording of early music as I have ever heard. The small instrumental group [is] widely, but naturally, spaced across the stereo picture, superbly balanced and wonderfully clear. The vocalists are placed centre-stage. The bass notes ring out with true ambience, and the theorbo and archlute are recorded intimately so that every note is clear

Garry Higginson MusicWeb International

Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger is today best known for his extraordinary compositions for solo lute and theorbo. The usually adventurous harmonic language, coupled with rhythmic inventions of a most creative sort, constitutes the basis of some of the most unique music of the period. However, Kapsberger’s musical output included much more than writing for the lute family of instruments - madrigals, solo arias, motets, strophic villanelles, instrumental dances, sinfonie, Masses, and stage works also feature in the composer’s rich musical output. Il Furioso, under the leadership of Victor Coelho, presents us with nearly all of Kapsberger’s Libro Secondo (1626), a publication of arias set to spiritual texts, and several theorbo solos found in various contemporary collections. The CD features some first-class singing, especially from the group’s tenor, Gian Paolo Faggoto. Tu dormi displays a notable sensitivity to the sentiment of the text and a remarkable ease of ornamentation. Perche pieta, a soprano-bass duet sung by Janet Youngdahl and Paul Grindlay, is likewise worth noting for the exceptional virtuosity displayed by the two singers. The continuo section of the group, comprised of theorbo, archlute, and harpsichord, provide a very nice support even though a greater variety of sound colour would be welcome. The solo theorbo pieces demonstrate considerable musical maturity and skills on the instrument by both Victor Coelho and David Dolata; Kapsberger’s Corrente and an anonymous Toccata are particularly charming. Overall, this polished and pleasurable recording is a welcome reminder of the musical versatility of one of the 17th century’s most original composers.

Zak Ozmo Goldberg Magazine

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