Monteverdi's Madrigals
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Gran Teatre del Liceu La Rambla 51-59, 08002 Barcelona
Image courtesy of Gran Teatre del Liceu
This winter at Gran Teatre del Liceu, enjoy Alessandrini's expert interpretation of Monteverdi's Madrigals.
The madrigal reached its apogee in the work of Monteverdi and added a key chapter to the history of music as its evolution gave birth to a new genre: opera.
Monteverdi's madrigals were published in nine books between 1587 and 1651. They constitute an exercise in proto-opera in which the emotions take center stage. We begin our voyage of exploration with the eighth book, where the style has already adopted a bolder idiom featuring ground-breaking play on harmony. Entitled Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi con alcuni opuscoli in genere rappresentativo, this is Monteverdi's most ambitious collection of madrigals, though the musical form used was itself in decline.
The conductor and harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini, a leading authority on Monteverdi, guides us along this lush and fascinating path studded with exquisite miniatures. In the words and the music, the declamation and the stile concitato, we witness the first attempts to depict human passions through text and harmony. The program includes the famous Lamento de la nimfa.
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