Monteverdi, Man of the Moment

2010 isn't even two months old, and already it's shaping up to be a banner year for Claudio Monteverdi, thanks to the 400th anniversary of the composer's towering Vespro della Beata Vergine. But if you take your Monteverdi a little less monumental, the California Bach Society's next concert set may be just the ticket. As Artistic Director Paul Flight explains, "This year, when many groups around the country are turning their attention to Monteverdi's justly famous Vespers of 1610, I thought it would be nice to explore a different side of the composer's oeuvre." His choice: the madrigals, a broad selection of which are featured in CBS performances March 12-14 in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Berkeley. In these concerts, the group is joined by tenor soloist Brian Thorsett.

Monteverdi's madrigals are witty and melodious, and immediately expressive. Laments of the lovelorn feature prominently: the consuming passion of love (Quel augellin che canta/ The little bird who sings), unrequited love (Sfogava con le stelle/ He cried out to the stars, A un giro sol/ A single glance), leavetaking (O primavera gioventù dell anno/ O Springtime, youthful season, Ah, dolente partita/ Ah, sad parting). The remarkable sestina Lagrime d'amante al sepolcro dell'amata (Tears of the lover at the tomb of his beloved), a set of six madrigals on a single, extended poem, creates an especially powerful solemnity in Monteverdi's setting. CBS also sings the paradigmatic Monteverdi lament, Lamento d'Arianna, in its five-voice madrigal version, adapted from a solo aria in the now-lost opera L'Arianna.

The chorus' concert repertory centers on the middle range of Monteverdi's output (books 3, 4, 6, and 7), published between 1592 and 1619. "Written over a 25-year span, the madrigals we are performing reflect the various innovations that Monteverdi brought to the form," Flight observes. "The madrigals of his earlier books may bear a loose relation to the Renaissance motet, but already they are replete with bold gestures in which the meaning of a specific word is brought out strongly." Aside from their musical beauty, they're a fascinating case study in the composer's stylistic development. The madrigals are a microcosm of the transition historians now identify between Renaissance and Baroque style, and Monteverdi was squarely in the vanguard.

Typical of Monteverdi's experimental impulse is Sfogava con le stelle (He cried out to the stars), which opens with a patter-style delivery of the poem's words on a single chord, depicting the poet's sense of urgency and anguish.

Thorsett will be featured in selections from the composer's 1632 song collection Scherzi Musicali (musical jests), which showcase Monteverdi's ravishing lyricism and complex emotional drama. Rounding out the program is a touch of ballet music with Tirsi e Clori, filled with songs of infectious tunefulness.