Composer: Pietro Francesco Cavalli, Giovanni Battista Fontana, Alessandro Grandi, Giovanni Legrenzi, Antonio Lotti, Tarquinio Merula, Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi, Giovanni Antonio Rigatti, Salamone Rossi
Performer: Ensemble Les Surprises
Conductor: Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Alpha
Catalogue: ALPHA927
Release: 2023
Size: 1.22 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Monteverdi: Selva morale e spirituale: No. 13, Dixit dominus, SV 264
02. Legrenzi: La cetra, Book 3, Op. 10: Sonata a quattro No. 6: I. Adagio
03. Grandi: O quam tu pulchra es
04. Merula: Ballo detto Eccardo
05. Rigatti: Magnificat
06. Monteverdi: Longe, mi Jesu
07. Monteverdi: Troppo ben può, SV 102
08. Monteverdi: Ferir quel petto, Silvio?
09. Monteverdi: Laudate Dominum omnes gentes III, SV 274 (from Selva morale e spirituale)
10. Legrenzi: Ingemisco
11. Legrenzi: Oro supplex
12. Lotti: Crucifixus in 8 parts
Rossi: Sinfonie et gagliarde, Libro 1
13. Sinfonia grave à 5
14. Gagliarda detta la Massara
15. Gagliarda detta la Norsina
16. Cavalli: Missa concertata: Agnus Dei
17. Fontana: 18 Sonatas in 1, 2, 3 Parts: No. 16, Sonata in C major
18. Legrenzi: Salve Regina
19. Legrenzi: Sacri e festivi concenti, Op. 9: No. 16, De profundis
Venice was surely the capital of music and the arts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and one of the most coveted positions in the city was that of maestro di cappella at St Mark’s Basilica. A few lucky chosen candidates succeeded one another in bringing to life the musical splendour of the basilica, all of them fabulous musicians and composers prolonging the legacy of the great Claudio Monteverdi. For its third recording on Alpha, the ensemble Les Surprises has chosen to sail towards Venetian waters and mix with these geniuses of affect, word-setting and theatre, exploring music that ranges from grandiose double choruses to intimate duets or trios combining sacred and profane.