Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Madrigali al tavolino (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

The thirty-two polyphonic madrigals by Michelangelo Rossi, which are preserved only in manuscript in a score and a set of partbooks, have only recently become known. These pieces are unusual in anumber of ways: on the one hand, for music from the second quarter of the seventeenth century, they seem “conservative”, composed in five parts with two tenor voices instead of two sopranos. On the other hand, they appear to be avant-garde in their vertiginous harmony (chromaticism andmodulations), which lead them, in spite of the traditional counterpoint, far beyond the borders ofharmonic tonality. And they are strikingly “vieltönig”, as this was especially cultivated in Rome of thoseyears. The term “vieltönig” can perhaps be translated as “multitonal” in the literal sense of using many pitches and refers to a conscious use of more than twelve notated pitches per octave.

This recording tries to reproduce the intimate setting in which such madrigals were sung in their time, with the singers sitting around a big table, studying, discussing and singing. Thus the term “madrigali al tavolino” that was chosen to title the album. A crucial aspect of this project is the use of an arciorgano, which has 36 pitches per octave (instead on the usual 12) and provides the background to the performance of these highly sophisticated vocalpieces. The specialist Johannes Keller leads the Ensemble Domus Artis, a group especially created for the study and interpretation of madrigals intended originally to be performed in tavolino conditions.

Tracklist:
01. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: O miseria d’amante (03:55)
02. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: O prodighi di fiamme (04:05)
03. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Keller: Improvisation (01:02)
04. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: Con che soavità (02:52)
05. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: Occhi, un tempo mia vita (03:38)
06. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: Alma afflitta (Arr. for Harpsichord) (02:54)
07. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: Pallida gelosia (05:04)
08. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: O donna troppo cruda (01:59)
09. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Keller: Improvisation (00:58)
10. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: Credete voi (03:04)
11. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: Voi volete (Arr. for Harpsichord) (03:28)
12. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Keller: Improvisation (00:42)
13. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: Or che la notte (05:43)
14. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: Langue al vostro languir (03:14)
15. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: Come sian dolorose (03:33)
16. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: Cura gelata e ria (02:38)
17. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: Per non mi dir (04:04)
18. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Keller: Improvisation (00:49)
19. Ensemble Domus Artis & Johannes Keller – Rossi: Ohimè, se tanto amate (02:33)