Review: 'The Prime of Monteverdi'

If there is one venue in London ideal for Venetian music it must be St. Brides. Both its gilded ceiling and baroque woodcarvings give a definite whiff of La Serenissima and its antique grandeur. Even the watery light coming through its windows on a rainy day seem to suggest the lagoon, though many Venetophiles would argue than rain falling in the street is a poor replacement for streets made of water. 

Musicke in the Ayre chose well to hold its concert dedicated to Monteverdi and his Venetian period here on the 8th of September. Called ‘The Prime of Monteverdi’, this seemed ironic as only half the program consisted of his work. The problem though with including other composers alongside such a genius is that they can rarely match him. This occasion was no exception. As gifted and capable as Alessandro Grandi or Flamminio Corradi were, their compositions lack the frisson of Monteverdi's work and can be easily dismissed as pleasing fluff. Several of the lute compositions, including Giovanni Kapsberger’s Canario and P.P. Melli’s Dimi Amore, were pleasant but borderline dull.

Monteverdi himself of course did not disappoint. Pulchra es, the first piece, sent shivers down my spine as did the plaintive Si dolce e’l tormento, its primal wail reminiscent of Lamento della ninfa. Special mention goes to soprano Alysha Paterson, who executed the excruciating florid passages of Quel sguardo sdegnosetto with a confident grace lacking in more celebrated singers. The cherry in the cake was the Pur ti miro, the final duet in Monteverdi’s opera L’incoronazione di Poppea, though I was shaken after being informed that its real composer might have been Benedetto Ferrari. An enjoyable event, I only wish that the concert had stuck true to its title and focussed more on the man himself.