1. L'Eraclito Amoroso: Udite Amanti La Cagione - Ens Incantato
2. Amor Dormiglione: Amor, Non Dormir Piu! - Mona Spagele/Paulina Von Laarhoven/Detlef Bratschke
3. La Travagliata: Soccorrete, Luci Avare - Mona Spagele/Hubert Hoffmann/Detlef Bratschke
4. Il Lamento: Sul Rodano Severo - Ens Incantato
5. Tra Le Speranze E'l Timore. Dialogo A Voce Sola: Timore E Che Sara? - Mona Spagele/Paulina Von Laarhoven/Detlef Bratschke
6. Per Un Bacio - Mona Spagele/Hubert Hoffmann
7. Basta Cosi V'ho Inteso - Mona Spagele/Detlef Bratschke
8. Lamento: Appresso A I Molli Argenti - Ens Incantato
9. Gite O Giorni Dolenti - Ens Incantato

Mona Spagele - Vocals
Detlef Bratschke - Hosepipe, Organ
Hubert Hoffmann - Archlute, Chitarrone
Paulina van Laarhoven - Lironi, Viola da Gamba
Ensemble Incantato

This is a generous and rewarding collection of a composer better known, I suspect, for her gender than her music. Barbara Strozzi’s biography (like that of her contemporary, the painter Artemisia Gentilleschi, whose life has recently been the subject of a book and a film) easily lends itself to romanticisation. There is no need to dwell on it here: the music and performers deserve to stand on their own.

Most of the pieces derive from her Cantatas, Op 2, of 1651. The Serenata and Cantata are indeed large-scale pieces each lasting nearly a quarter of an hour, and they show a fluid alternation of genres and interleaving of arioso passages typical of the solo cantata. Then there are the laments, with their trademark ground-bass figures and highly conventionalised topics; and finally the arias, whose ritornellos and melodies show off Strozzi at her most felicitously tuneful. Listen to ‘Amor dormiglione’ or ‘La vendetta’ and you’ll not forget them. Of the large-scale works the most effective in its pacing and dramatic effect, to my ear, is the Cantata ‘Sino alla morte’. Yes, Italian opera does become highly dependent on convention during this period, but Strozzi’s expression and range strike me as most impressive. The same might be said of Susanne Ryden, who copes for the most part admirably with the demands of the singer-composer: only in the extremes of register is there a slight falling off in effectiveness (the low notes at the conclusion of ‘L’Eraclito amoroso’ seem rather white, even for an evocation of death), and there is nothing here that would pall with repeated listening – quite the opposite, in fact. She is well supported by Musica Fiorita, whose accompaniment is unobtrusive but effective. These are the sort of forces that would have accompanied Strozzi herself, and there is an artlessness about the whole project that is rather special.' ---Fabrice Fitch, gramophone.co.uk

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1	Barbara Strozzi			 Lagrime mie (Op. 7)	8:52
2	Barbara Strozzi 		 Se volete cosi me ne contento (Op. 6)	4:51
3	Alessandro Piccinini		Toccata XII (tiorba sola)	2:45
4	Alessandro Piccinini		Corrente V (tiorba sola)	1:38
5	Barbara Strozzi		Che v'hò fato (Op. 7)	7:59
6	Bernardo Storace		Ciaccona (clavicembalo solo)	5:56
7	Barbara Strozzi		Chiudi l'audaci labra (Op. 6)	6:26
8	Girolamo Frescobaldi		Canzon Prima (violoncello solo)	4:29
9	Barbara Strozzi		L'Eraclito Amoroso "Udite Amanti" (Op. 2)	5:51
10	Barbara Strozzi		Lilla mia, non to doler (Op. 6)	2:09
11	Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger	Canzona I (tiorba sola)	3:44
12	Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger	Canario (tiorba sola)	2:06
13	Barbara Strozzi		Che si può fare?	9:02

Fons Musicae - ensemble
Dorothée Leclair -soprano
Lea Rahel Bader - cello
Yasunori Imamura - theorbo 
Jory Vinikour - harpsichord 
Iasunori Imamura - director

Barbara Strozzi is one of the most remarkable composers of the 17th century. That is not because she was a woman: there were more women who were active as composers and even published their compositions. But almost all of them were residents of a convent and composed sacred music which they wrote first and foremost for liturgical use in their own convent. Barbara Strozzi's oeuvre almost exclusively comprises secular music. She was also active as a singer, although in private circles, not in public concerts and not on the stage, for instance in an opera.

That said, her oeuvre is highly dramatic in character. That is certainly due to the fact that she was educated in composition by Francesco Cavalli who would become the most famous Venetian opera composer after the death of Monteverdi. Her father, Giulio, had also strong ties with opera: he was a poet who wrote a large number of opera librettos which were set by the main composers of his time. He was also largely responsible for Barbara's career. He founded the Accademia degli Unisoni, a kind of literary academy which gave her the chance to perform, certainly mostly her own compositions, and to listen to the deliberations of its members, especially about artistic matters.

Strozzi published her first collection of music in 1644: madrigals for two to five voices and basso continuo. It was followed by seven books of pieces, mostly for solo voice and basso continuo. The first was the op. 2 which appeared in 1651 and the last the op. 8 which dates from 1664. Only one of these books comprised sacred works: the op. 5 of 1655. Most of the texts were written specifically for her; about half of them are anonymous.

Strozzi was very much concerned about the form of her compositions, which were called arie, ariette or cantate. She sometimes took strophic poems but often treated them with considerable freedom, probably driven by the wish to translate the affetti of the text as accurately and effectively as possible. In free texts - mostly divided into a number of sections of different length and character - Strozzi tries to create some formal unity by repeating lines or sections. An example of such a piece is Lagrime mie which opens with the lines: "Oh my tears, why do you not fall? Why do you not release the cruel pain which steals my breath and burdens my heart?" This is repeated at the end, and halfway the first of these lines is inserted. This way it works like a kind of refrain.

Strozzi uses various devices to express the emotions in the text and to create dramatic contrasts. One of these is a remarkable range of the solo part, which attests to her own skills as a singer. Others are shifts in meter and tempo, contrasts between measured and unmeasured passages as well as the juxtaposition of episodes in a purely monodic style - à la Caccini - and more lyrical passages, such as we find them in the operas of Cavalli.

Strozzi is an important link in the chain from Caccini - the first decade of the 17th century - to Alessandro Scarlatti who - towards the end of the century - set the standard for the texture of the chamber cantata with its sequence of recitatives and arias. In several of Strozzi's works we find recitativic passages which point to the future, for instance in Che di può fare. Vocal chamber music as a pocket-size opera - that was the character of the chamber cantata in the early 18th century, and in Lagrime mie we find the unmistakable traces of that.

Barbara Strozzi is fairly well represented on disc. Although I don't know every recording of her oeuvre, it seems that this disc includes various pieces which are not recorded before or at least seldom performed. Lagrime mie and L'Eraclito amoroso are the best-known items in the present programme. Over the years I have heard several recordings of Fons Musicae. Its soprano used to be Monique Zanetti who certainly didn't lack dramatic skills but whose often incessant vibrato seriously damaged the quality of the ensemble's performances. Now her place has been taken by Dorothée Leclair, and as a dramatic interpreter she is Ms Zanetti's equal. Unfortunately little has changed in the vibrato department, although there are many passages where she sings without. I find its application rather inconsistent. I have really no idea why it is used in some passages and is omitted elsewhere. It is certainly not used only as an ornament. From that angle this disc is not unproblematic.

However, the interpretation is first-class: the contrasts within these pieces is impressively conveyed, and the instrumentalists support Ms Leclair in theatrical fashion, setting strong dynamic and rhythmic accents where it is due. Those who have a special interest in this repertoire should definitely investigate it, especially as some of the items are rarely heard. ---Johan van Veen, musica-dei-donum.org

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01. Ardo in tacito foco [9:33]
02. Tradimento [2:26]
03.  Pensaci ben mio cor [6:08]
04. Gite o giorno dolenti [8:31]
05. Lagrimae mie [8:58]
06. Spesso per entro al petto [2:41]
07. Amor, no dormi piu [2:31]
08. Voglio, volgio morire [7:32]
09. Non me dite ch'io canti [3:57]
10. La mia donna perche canta [4:43]
11. Appresso ai molli argenti [12:12]

Catherine Bott - Soprano 
Paula Chateauneuf - Baroque Guitar, Chitarrone
Frances Kelly -Double Harp
Timothy Roberts – Harpsichord

What little is known about Barbara Strozzi (also known as Barbara Valle) suffices to make her an extremely intriguing figure. Perhaps the most outstanding female composer of the seventeenth century, Strozzi studied under respected musicians and published eight collections of her music. Music, however, was possibly not her only means of support as several sources indicate she may have been a courtesan as well.

Strozzi published her first compositions in 1644. These were madrigals that set poems by her father. The remainder of her eight published collections appeared after Giulio Strozzi died in 1652. He had little to leave her, and she may have been motivated to publish partly by financial necessity.

One of Strozzi’s published works, Opus 4, is missing. The rest are dedicated to various royal or noble patrons, including the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Ferdinand II of Austria and Eleanora of Mantua, and Nicolò Sagredo (a future doge of Venice). It is not known how Strozzi came into contact with most of her patrons, since only Sagredo was a Venetian. Other musicians from Venice rarely dedicated works to non-Venetian patrons.

Most of Strozzi’s compositions, apart from the madrigals mentioned earlier and some sacred motets for solo voice, are secular works for soprano and continuo (described variously as “aria,” “arietta,” or “cantata.” She probably sang the works herself, and many contain references to her name. At least one source calls Strozzi a poet, and about half the texts she set are anonymous, but there is no other indication as to whether she set her own poetry. --- musicacademyonline.com

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1. Claudio Monteverdi - Hor che ‘l ciel e la terra 8:25
2. Barbara Strozzi - Lagrime mie 8:57
3. Barbara Strozzi - Priego ad amore 3:41
4. Sigismondo D'India - Dispietata pietate 2:37
5. Barbara Strozzi - Che si può fare 12:10
6. Barbara Strozzi - Silentio nocivo 4:51
7. Barbara Strozzi - Vecchio amante 5:26
8. Barbara Strozzi - L’usignuolo 4:23
9. Claudio Monteverdi - Si ch’io vorrei morire 2:59
10. Barbara Strozzi - L’amante modesto 6:29

Céline Scheen, Mariana Florès - soprano
Fabian Schofrin - countertenor
Jaime Caicompai - tenor
Matteo Bellotto - bass
Cappella Mediterranea
Leonardo Garcia Alarcón - conductor

The virtuoso Venetian diva of the 17th century, Barbara Strozzi, Monteverdi's heiress, journeys the passions of the soul through a daring mosaic of styles and rhythms. Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, who is one of the rising generation of baroque conductors, is leading a major research project on the specific parameters which make up musical performance, paying particular attention to improvisation techniques and the relationship between text and music. His work at the Ambronay Festival has focused on the performance of 17th-century Italian music including rich and little-known repertoire of motets and madrigals by Barbara Strozzi, Isabella Leonarda and Antonia Bembo. ---Editorial Reviews, cdandlp.com

This is a fascinating, colourful, and in places controversial anthology of the music of an extraordinary woman. Barbara Strozzi, admirer of Monteverdi and pupil of Cavalli, was already showing prodigious talent as a singer at the age of 17, being referred to in the phrase "virtuosissima cantatrice" which provides the cue for the title of the present disc. Renowned also for her intellect and her beauty, by the time she was 25 she had already published her first book of madrigals (1644), some of which are included here. Taking a leaf from Monteverdi's book, and in particular from his 8th book of madrigals, but very much with her own individual style, Strozzi's music is eloquent, dramatic, emotional and profound.

All these qualities are vividly demonstrated in these beautiful, carefully considered performances by Leonardo García Alarcón and his group Cappella Mediterranea. The programme is designed to offer a sampling of Strozzi's musical development, from polyphonic madrigals to accompanied monody and beyond; a couple of items by Monteverdi, and one by Sigismondo d'India, are added to the mixture in order to suggest, as Alarcón explains in his booklet notes, a Venetian musical evening. His players and singers all perform superbly, the star in my view being the soprano Mariana Flores for her stunning rendition of the monumental lament over an ostinato bass, "Che si può fare" from Strozzi's "Arie a voce sola" of 1664 - a spellbinding performance that combines deep feeling with infinite delicacy. The instrumental accompaniments are beautifully arranged and played, with lovely improvised ornamentation from the cornett among others, although I for one could have done without the percussion intrusions in Monteverdi's madrigal "Hor che 'l ciel e la terra" - the great master's music already expresses vividly the poet's inner turmoil and fury at the words "Guerra è il mio stato", and there is no need for anyone to bang on a drum to prove the point. In fact percussion is used again later on, in Strozzi's "Vecchio amante", but here it works much better, especially since trumpets and drums are actually mentioned in the text.

The disc is well documented and attractively presented; the booklet includes all the Italian texts with translations into English and French, a short but fascinating biography of this extraordinary composer, as well as enlightening comments by the conductor and some atmospheric photos of the musicians and recording sessions.

There are a number of recordings of Barbara Strozzi's music available, but this one from Alarcón and Cappella Mediterranea is surely among the very best. In particular, unlike some of the other discs which concentrate on a single genre or opus number, it presents music from different stages of her life - and, what is more, in the context of works by some of her contemporaries. The performances from this very fine early music group are brilliant, thoughtful and deeply committed, very much in the way the music deserves. Existing Strozzi fans need not hesitate, while baroque enthusiasts who are not yet familiar with her music will find this CD a fascinating, indeed mesmerising, introduction to the work of a bold and original genius. ---Stephen Midgley, amazon.com

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