The Queen's Music: Italian Vocal Duets & Trios

Queen Christina of Sweden is one of the most fascinating characters in the history of 17th-century Europe. As the only child of King Gustavus Adolphus, leading champion of the Protestant cause during the Thirty Years' War, she succeeded him on the throne at the age of six, abdicating 22 years later in order to move to Rome where she could openly practice her previously secret Catholicism. While still a reigning monarch, she invited a number of eminent artists and scientists (including René Descartes) to Stockholm, and in 1652 a company of Italian musicians arrived, engaged to supply the court with the very latest of music from Italy. A manuscript presented to Bulstrode Whitelocke, the English ambassador to Sweden at the time, contains some of the music that the queen would have been treated to. The programme on this disc consists of a selection from the Whitelocke manuscript, with Carissimi's large-scale cantata I Naviganti at its heart. These duets and trios form a kind of refined entertainment music for intimate occasions: emotionally charged, yet playful songs about love and passion intended for an aristocratic audience. The combination of simple yet elegant melodies and colourful, sometimes even bold, harmonies lends these songs a particular sweetness which is here brought out by a close-knit group of some of the finest performers in the field of period performance today, with Emma Kirkby and Peter Harvey representing Whitelocke's country, and Susanne Rydén and Swedish-based cellist Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann the realm of Queen Christina. They are joined by the Danish harpsichordist Lars Ulrik Mortensen, who also adds variety to the programme with instrumental solos by Frescobaldi.

"The vocal colours of Kirkby and her fellow soprano Susanne Rydén complement each other beautifully, while Peter Harvey's resonant baritone and the countertenor Mikael Bellini add other shades." -Sunday Times ****

"Harvey's few contributions to the BIS disc, a collection of Italian vocal duets and trios from the court of the legendary 17th-century Queen Christina of Sweden, are wonderfully stylish, but the recital is dominated by the sopranos and Lars Ulrik Mortensen's spirited harpsichord playing." -Financial Times ***

"Many of the settings exploit the sensual intertwining of two soprano voices over a basso continuo...Emma Kirkby, dewy-voiced as ever, and Swedish soprano Susanne Rydén make exquisite partners, ever-sensitive to the music's subtle nuances and graceful ornamentation." -BBC Music Magazine ****

"[Kirkby, Rydén and Harvey], all specialists in the historically informed performance of Baroque music, have the light, brilliant, flexible voices necessary to do these lovely works full justice. Kirkby is warmer than the more crystalline-sounding and considerably younger Rydén, but she is no less agile and thus the two sopranos are a perfect match." -International Record Review

"[Mortensen's] captivating harpsichord accompaniments also play a vital part in helping to share the appealing merits of refined miniatures such as Antonio Cesti's duet 'Già son morto'...Luigi Rossi's 'Dite o cieli' is sung by Kirkby and Harvey with marvellous lightness and I particularly admired Carissimi's trio I Naviganti." -Gramophone Magazine

Notes & Reviews:

Recording information: Länna Church, Sweden (05/2008).

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Works Details

Anonymous, Italian : Parlate per me, song

Performers: Emma Kirkby (Soprano); Susanne Rydén (Soprano)
Running Time: 2 min. 8 sec.
Form: Vocal

Rossi, Luigi : Tu sarai sempre, for 2 voices & continuo

Performers: Susanne Rydén (Soprano); Emma Kirkby (Soprano)
Running Time: 2 min. 20 sec.
Period Time: Baroque

Cesti, Antonio : Già son morto, motet for 2 voices

Performers: Susanne Rydén (Soprano); Emma Kirkby (Soprano)
Running Time: 3 min. 10 sec.
Period Time: Baroque
Form: Choral

Rossi, Luigi : Dite o Cieli, for 2 voices & continuo

Performers: Emma Kirkby (Soprano); Peter Harvey (Bass Baritone)
Running Time: 1 min. 40 sec.
Period Time: Baroque

Anonymous, Italian : Pian piano mio core, song

Performers: Susanne Rydén (Soprano); Emma Kirkby (Soprano)
Running Time: 2 min. 48 sec.
Form: Vocal

Frescobaldi, Girolamo : Il primo libro d'intavolatura di toccate di cimbalo et organo, no 8, Toccata otova

Performer: Lars Mortensen (Harpsichord)
Running Time: 4 min. 8 sec.
Period Time: Baroque

Carissimi, Giacomo : Sciolto havean dall'alte sponde (I naviganti), cantata for 2 sopranos, baritone & continuo

Performers: Peter Harvey (Bass Baritone); Susanne Rydén (Soprano); Emma Kirkby (Soprano)
Running Time: 13 min. 5 sec.
Period Time: Baroque
Form: Cantata/Oratorio
Written: by 04/1653

Frescobaldi, Girolamo : In partitura, il primo libro della canzoni ... no 7, basso solo, "detta la Tuccina" (la Superba), f

Performers: Mime Yamahiro-Brinkmann (Cello); Lars Mortensen (Harpsichord)
Running Time: 3 min. 40 sec.
Period Time: Baroque

Rossi, Luigi : O cieli pietà, for 2 voices & continuo

Performers: Emma Kirkby (Soprano); Susanne Rydén (Soprano)
Running Time: 3 min. 45 sec.
Period Time: Baroque

Rossi, Luigi : Lasso benché mi fugga, for 2 voices & continuo

Performers: Mikael Bellini (Countertenor); Peter Harvey (Bass Baritone); Susanne Rydén (Soprano)
Running Time: 4 min. 44 sec.
Period Time: Baroque

Frescobaldi, Girolamo : Il primo libro d'intavolatura di toccate di cimbalo et organo, no 9, Toccata nona

Performer: Lars Mortensen (Harpsichord)
Running Time: 5 min. 32 sec.
Period Time: Baroque

Rossi, Luigi : Pene che volete, for 2 voices & continuo

Performers: Peter Harvey (Bass Baritone); Emma Kirkby (Soprano)
Running Time: 2 min. 11 sec.
Period Time: Baroque

Rossi, Luigi : Pietà spietati lumi, cantata for 3 voices & continuo

Performers: Emma Kirkby (Soprano); Peter Harvey (Bass Baritone)
Running Time: 2 min. 54 sec.
Period Time: Baroque

Anonymous, Italian : Partitevi da me, song

Performers: Emma Kirkby (Soprano); Susanne Rydén (Soprano)
Running Time: 2 min. 18 sec.
Form: Vocal

Rossi, Luigi : Vorrei scoprirti, for 2 voices & continuo

Performers: Emma Kirkby (Soprano); Susanne Rydén (Soprano)
Running Time: 2 min. 47 sec.
Period Time: Baroque

Anonymous, Italian : Occhi belli, song

Performers: Emma Kirkby (Soprano); Susanne Rydén (Soprano)
Running Time: 2 min. 19 sec.
Form: Vocal

Frescobaldi, Girolamo : Il primo libro d'intavolatura di toccate di cimbalo et organo, no 2, Toccata seconda

Performer: Lars Mortensen (Harpsichord)
Running Time: 3 min. 46 sec.
Period Time: Baroque

Anonymous, Italian : E' di ragion, song

Performers: Susanne Rydén (Soprano); Peter Harvey (Bass Baritone)
Running Time: 4 min. 50 sec.
Form: Vocal

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