Discography

In the adventure of the "new monodic music" of the early seicento, two personalities stand out: Jacopo Peri (1561-1633), a Florentine of noble descent, and Sigismondo d'India (c.1582-1629), who introduced himself as a "nobile palermitano" in the preface of his first book of Musiche (1609). In many ways they are similar, and their music expresses the nobility and high ideals of recitar cantando to the highest degree. Peri, affectionately known as "il Zazzerino", was praised both as a singer and as a composer. D'India, after a stay in Florence during which he met all the intelligentsia of the city, appropriated the monodic "new music", which he enriched with the audacious experiments of the Neapolitans.

Concerto Soave offers a fascinating confrontation between these two giants of the early seicento, embodied by the magical timbre of Maria Cristina Kiehr and the virtuosity of Romain Bockler. Lamenti, canzonette, madrigali and duetti illustrate this "noble song" with fervor, tenderness, emotion and success.