Short shrift to Cavalli: Les Talens Lyriques at the Wigmore Hall
Les Talens Lyriques
Wigmore Hall
Stalls L5, £5 (under-35s)
26 February 2018
Wigmore Hall page
Programme:
Monteverdi Settimo libro de madrigali: Chiome d'oro, O come sei gentile, Ahi sciocco mondo e cieco
Castello Sonate Concertate in Stil Moderno, Libro I: Seconda Sonata
Monteverdi L'incoronazione di Poppea: Prologue and Sinfonia, ’Signor, deh, non partire’, ’Signor oggi rinasco’, ‘Pur ti miro, pur ti godo’
Rossi Orfeo: ‘A che tanto spavento’, ‘Che può far Citherea’, ‘Vi renda Amor mercè’, ‘Lasciate, Averno’
Rosenmüller Sonata Sesta a3
Cavalli Didone: ‘Lamento di Cassandra’, ‘Lamento di Didone’
Monteverdi L'incoronazione di Poppea: ‘Sento un certo non so che’
Encore: Cavalli Hipermestra: ‘Così ferite d'amoroso strale’
As ever with concert performances of opera extracts, I wonder what they achieve (you might ask why I keep going to them).
Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques cherry-picked their way through a selection of opera arias, madrigals and instrumental pieces to give us a flavour of the music available at the Venetian court in the early 17th century. And yet does such a programme actually do this? Music from operas performed out of context, shorn of story and length, is an entirely different beast, and I think a significantly less interesting one.
My main takeaway was to think all the music sounded extremely samey, and if it wasn’t by Monteverdi then similar to Monteverdi but less good – which is not the impression you get when watching a complete Rossi or Cavalli. It seems a shame in a programme that surely seeks to celebrate Venice as the crucible of opera.
Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques performed with their usual grace and elegance. They were set off beautifully by the lustrous voice of Judith van Wanroij, a wonderfully imperious singer who nailed every utterance through crystal-clear intonation, fleet vocal agility and a remarkable range of colour. I was less enamoured of her partner Jodie Devos, whose soubrette tended to shrillness.
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