Outil de traduction (Très approximatif)
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Reviewer: Iain
Fenlon
Step into the
Danieli Palace hotel in Venice and, with a bit of creative imagination, it is
possible to commune with the spirit of the first performance of Monteverdi’s
Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. It was there, during the Carnival
of 1624, that this experimental theatrical piece was given for the first time.
Set at the time of the Crusades and based on an episode from the Gerusalemme
liberata by Torquato Tasso, it involves just three singers and a four-part
string and continuo accompaniment; the score presents these forces as two
distinct groupings, with many of the sounds of the contest between the Christian
knight and his Saracen lover dramatically represented through triadic trumpet
calls and a whole series of innovative special effects. Much of the challenge of
a successful performance resides in the dominant role of the narrator. For any
contemporary Venetian, the obvious background model must have been the
storytellers who appeared every day in the squares of the city. Luca Dordolo
captures their spirit superbly. His firm clear diction and sensitive rhetorical
control, which at times almost moves into a kind of speech-song, extracts every
last ounce of carefully calculated drama from Monteverdi’s narrow vocal range,
carefully constructed to emphasise the narrative character of the writing. The
set-piece arioso passage ‘Notte che nel profondo oscuro seno’ produces a
memorable, strongly projected performance, enhanced by sensitively executed
virtuoso ornamentation, while Clorinda’s affective and almost pathetic final
interjection as she dies in Tancredi’s arms is heart-rendingly captured by
Lombardi Mazzulli. Following the spirit of Monteverdi’s instructions, the
Combattimento is prefaced by a sequence of solo songs and duets, while a
further group of late pieces and a fine though rarely heard song by Felice
Sances complete the record. No serious Monteverdian will want to be without it.
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