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Donald Macleod turns his attentions to the Italian hierarchy and Monteverdi’s place in the political pecking order.

Claudio Monteverdi’s compositions range from the secular to the sacred. He is a composer whose work spans the Renaissance and Baroque periods of musical history, and is known as a pioneer of the development of opera in Italy throughout the early 17th century. Throughout the week, Donald looks at five themes in Monteverdi’s life through the letters he wrote. Using Denis Stevens’ translations from the 1970s, we look at the excuses given by Monteverdi – a perpetually busy man – for not finishing compositions on time, the politics and hierarchy of life in the Italian Courts and Church, the financial struggles faced by Monteverdi, the illnesses that plagued his life and the lives of his close family and the importance of his family throughout his life.

Donald tells stories about Monteverdi’s life growing up in Cremona, under Spanish rule, before moving to Mantua to the court of Duke Vincenzo I and then on to St. Mark’s, as the Director of Music, in Venice. We hear, through Monteverdi’s letters, his opinions of singers, and how highly these opinions were regarded by his employers.

Cantate Domino
The Monteverdi Choir
Andrew Davis, organ
Christopher van Kempen, cello
Simon Carrington, double bass
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Dominus vobiscum. Et cum spiritu tuo
Arnold Schoenberg Chor
Concentus musicus Wien
Tölzer Knabenchor, Choralschola der Wiener Hofburgkapelle
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor

Con che soavità
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Nuria Rial, soprano
Christina Pluhar, director

L’Incoronazione di Poppea: Act II: Amici, è giunta l’hora
City of London Baroque Sinfonia
Richard Hickox, conductor
Gregory Reinhart, bass (Seneca)
Lynton Atkinson, tenor (Famigliari di Seneca)
Mark Tucker, tenor (Famigliari di Seneca)
Brian Bannatyne-Scott, bass (Famigliari di Seneca)
Mark Beesley, bass (Famigliari di Seneca)

Ballo delle ingrate
Le Nuove Musiche
Krijn Koetsveld, artistic leader
Jennifer van der Hart, soprano (Amor, una delle ingrate)
Wendy Roobol, soprano (Venere)
Bas Ramselaar, bass (Plutone)
Hugo Naessens, alto
Falco van Loon, tenor

Producer: Eleri Llian Rees