大象传媒

Donald Macleod explores the reality of Monteverdi鈥檚 life at the Gonzaga court in Mantua.

Claudio Monteverdi is undoubtedly one of the most important figures in the development of Western music. As a composer of both secular and sacred music, over the course of his career he worked for court, church and was one of the key figures in the development of opera. During this week of programmes, Donald Macleod tracks Monteverdi鈥檚 career across three cities, from promising child prodigy, through poverty and plague, to his final years in the priesthood, with huge artistic successes along the way.

In Tuesday鈥檚 programme, Donald explores the harsh realities of Monteverdi鈥檚 life at the Gonzaga court in Mantua, with experiences of war which would have a profound impact on the composer for the rest of his life, unpaid wages which lead to large debts, and a hedonistic, immoral and dangerously unpredictable boss in Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga. But it was also a time of great breakthroughs in Monteverdi鈥檚 musical style, though he had to contend with criticism for his musical 鈥渋rregularities鈥�.

Zefiro torna e di soavi accenti
Nuria Rial, soprano
Philippe Jaroussky, counter-tenor
L'Arpeggiata
Christina Pluhar, director

Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
Patrizia Ciofi, soprano
Rolando Villaz贸n, tenor
Topi Lethipuu, tenor
Le Concert d鈥橝str茅e
Emmanuelle Ha茂m, harpsichord

De la Bellezza le dovute lodi, SV 245
Concerto Italiano
Rinaldo Alessandrini, conductor

4th book of madrigals - Anima mia, perdona; Che se tu se il cor mio
La Venexiana

5th book of madrigals - Cruda Amarilli
La Venexiana

4th book of madrigals - Ah, dolente partita!; Quel augellin che canta
Le Nuove Musiche
Krijn Koetsvelt, director

Produced by Sam Phillips.