Carlo GESUALDO Da Venosa Madrigals Book 1 Delitiæ Musicæ • Marco Longhini

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Carlo GESUALDO da Venosa Madrigals Book 1 Delitiæ Musicæ • Marco Longhini

Marco Longhini Photo: Agnes Spaak 8.570548 12 570548 bk Gesualdo US 29/1/10 13:06 Page 2

Carlo * Danzan le ninfe oneste * The honest nymphs and shepherds dance GESUALDO – Seconda parte – Part Two da Venosa (Torquato Tasso) (1566-1613) Danzan le ninfe oneste e i pastorelli The honest nymphs and shepherds dance e i susurranti augelli in fra le fronde and amid the leaves the birds softly sing THE FIRST BOOK OF MADRIGALS, 1594 al mormorar dell’onde e vaghi fiori above the murmuring water, and the Graces IL PRIMO LIBRO DE’ MADRIGALI, 1594 donan le grazie ai pargoletti amori. give pretty flowers to the little cupids.

1 Baci soavi e cari (part 1) (a, b, d, e, f) 3:36 ( Son sì belle le rose ( The roses nature gave you 2 Quanto ha di dolce amore (part 2) (a, b, d, e, f) 3:15 (Livio Celiano) 3 Madonna, io ben vorrei (a, b, c, d, f) 3:35 Son sì belle le rose The roses nature gave you 4 Come esser può ch’io viva? (a, b, c, e, f) 2:41 che in voi natura pose are as beautiful 5 Gelo ha madonna in seno (a, b, c, d, f) 2:39 come quelle che l’arte as those that art 6 Mentre madonna (part 1) (b, c, d, e, f) 2:39 nel vago seno ha sparte. has strewn on your fair breast. 7 Ahi, troppo saggia (part 2) (b, c, d, e, f) 2:56 Non so, mirando poi, So I know not, on looking, se voi le rose, o sian le rose voi. if you are the roses, or the roses you. 8 Se da si nobil mano (a, b, c, e, f) 2:24 9 Amor, pace non chero (a, b, d, e, f, g) 2:03 ) Bella angioletta ) Beautiful little angel 0 Sì gioioso mi fanno i dolor miei (a, b, d, e, f) 3:32 (Torquato Tasso) ! O dolce mio martire (a, b, d, e, f) 2:39 Bella angioletta, da le vaghe piume, Beautiful little angel, with your fair feathers, @ Tirsi morir volea (part 1) (a, b, c, e, f) 3:21 prestane al grave pondo lend my burdensome body # Frenò Tirsi il desio (part 2) (a, b, c, e, f) 2:46 tante ch’io esca fuor di questo fondo enough of them that I may rise from these depths $ Mentre, mia stella, miri (a, b, c, e, f) 2:56 o possa in qualche ramo and from some branch % Non mirar, non mirare (a, b, c, e, f) 3:08 di te cantando dire: io amo. declare in song: I love you. ^ Questi leggiadri odorosetti fiori (a, c, d, e, f) 3:37 & Felice primavera! (part 1) (a, b, d, e, f, g) 2:11 * Danzan le ninfe (part 2) (a, b, d, e, f, g) 1:33 English translations by Susannah Howe ( Son sì belle le rose (a, b, c, e, f) 2:31 ) Bella angioletta (a, b, c, e, f) 2:13 Urtext Music for this recording by Marco Longhini and Rosaria Chiodini DELITIÆ MUSICÆ Alessandro Carmignani, Countertenor (cantus) (a) Paolo Costa, Countertenor (quintus) (b) Fabio Fùrnari, Tenor (quintus-altus) (c) Paolo Fanciulacci, Tenor (altus) (d) Marco Scavazza, Baritone (tenor) (e) Walter Testolin, Bass (bassus) (f) Carmen Leoni, Harpsichord (clavicembalo) (g) Marco Longhini, Conductor 8.570548 2 11 8.570548 570548 bk Gesualdo US 29/1/10 13:06 Page 10

$ Mentre, mia stella, miri $ As, my star, you watch Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (1566-1613) (Torquato Tasso) The First Book of Madrigals, 1594 Mentre, mia stella, miri As, my star, you watch i bei celesti giri, the celestial bodies turn, Gesualdo and the City of Ferrara What connection was there between that northern city il ciel esser vorrei I wish that I were heaven, and a prince whose life had been spent between Naples, perchè tu rivolgessi that if you were to turn The First Book of Madrigals by Carlo Gesualdo, Prince Venosa and Gesualdo (two small towns in the south of fiso negli occhi miei your lovely eyes of Venosa, was published by a Ferrarese printer, Italy that still bear the name of his patrician family)? le tue dolci faville, and look up into mine, Vittorio Baldini, in 1594. Baldini also issued the Second For Carlo Gesualdo, it was a matter of publishing Io vagheggiar potessi, I could gaze down upon Book of Madrigals that same year. Both volumes were his own works at the court that perhaps cultivated and mille bellezze tue con luci mille. your thousand beauties through as many stars. edited by the musician Scipione Stella, who stated in the valued music more than any other at the time, and prefaces he wrote for each that he had compiled these appreciated the madrigal in particular, as a symbol of % Non mirar, non mirare % Look not, look not collections of previously published works by his prince the synthesis between the different arts, and as the (Filippo Alberti (1548-1618)) and protector and had corrected the printing errors they mature and favourite fruit of a sophisticated aristocratic Non mirar, non mirare Look not, look not contained. At that time, it would not have been fitting culture. For Ferrara, meanwhile, the prince represented di questa bella imago on the noble, precious aspect for a nobleman to concern himself with publishing potential salvation from a dire political fate: Duke l’altere parti e rare. of this lovely image. books or music (princely occupations in Renaissance Alfonso II d’Este (grandson of the infamous Lucrezia Ahi, che di morir vago Alas, I long for death society were very different, outwardly at least), and Borgia), the last of the noble family of patrons that had tu pur rimiri come yet you merely look on, therefore he had had a number of works printed under governed the city since 1332, had no children and if l’immoto guardo gira your unchanging gaze turns away, the name of Giuseppe Pilonii (not a pseudonym, but a there were no male heir (because of a long-standing e loquace silenzio il labro spira. and your lips utter an eloquent silence. “dear friend” of the Flemish musician Jean de Macque, agreement with the papacy), the family lands would be O desir troppo ardito, O too passionate desire, both members of the Gesualdo household in the years returned to the Papal States. It must have been felt that va, va, che sei ferito! go, go, for you are wounded! after 1586; sadly, all trace of this earlier publication has marriage between Gesualdo and Alfonso’s niece been lost). Stella’s prefaces are dated 2nd June 1594 for Leonora might be the ideal way to try and resolve this ^ Questi leggiadri odorosetti fiori ^ These fair and perfumed blooms Book One and 10th May 1594 for Book Two: the latter delicate situation by currying favour with Carlo’s uncle, (Livio Celiano (1557-1629)) therefore appears to predate the former. Two further Cardinal Alfonso Gesualdo, one of the most powerful Questi leggiadri odorosetti fiori These fair and perfumed blooms books followed in quick succession (in 1595 and 1596), and influential men in Rome. On 19th February 1594, fur già ninfe e pastori once were nymphs and shepherds both also published in Ferrara by Baldini. As was very the Prince arrived in Ferrara: “bringing with him two ed or de’ miei pensieri and now are the silent messengers often the case in Renaissance Italy, the publication of a books of music in five parts, all his own work” (as son muti messaggieri. of my thoughts. book of music simply meant bringing together some of a chronicled by Alfonso Fontanelli, sent out by the Duke Deh, mentre voi pietosa Ah, while you, in compassion composer’s best pieces – works he believed would be to meet the wedding party and report back on his future volgete gli occhi a la lor sorte ria, turn your gaze on their unhappy fate, enjoyed and appreciated by a wider audience of listeners relative) as well as a retinue of thirty from his own pietà vi mova de la doglia mia. let my suffering too move you to pity. and performers. Hence these madrigals (eighty in all, court. The marriage took place on 21st February with all twenty in each book) are split between four volumes, kinds of merrymaking, including a joust, a grand & Felice primavera! – Parte prima & Happy Spring! – Part One probably not in accurate chronological order, but all twenty-three-course banquet (details of this, as of all the (Torquato Tasso) connected by having been printed in Ferrara. Fifteen festivities, have survived) and the exchange of Felice primavera! Happy Spring! years were to pass before another Gesualdo publication expensive gifts, such as the beautifully engraved de’ bei pensier fiorisce nel mio core Joyful thoughts cause Love’s new laurels appeared; Baldini had by then lost interest, and the ceremonial cuirass which can still be seen today at Novo lauro d’Amore to flourish within my heart, composer’s last two books were printed in Venice, both Prague Castle, and the ode Lascia, o figlio di Urania, il A cui ride la terra e il ciel d’intorno and heaven and earth smile at the sight in 1611. bel Parnaso, written expressly for the occasion by the e di bel manto adorno while the Po adorns its banks How, then, did Gesualdo come to bear his first great poet Torquato Tasso. As mentioned above, three di giacinti e viole, il Po si veste. with a fine mantle of hyacinths and violets. “musical offspring” in Ferrara, and what made him months later the First and Second Books of his beloved decide that the time was right for such a publication? madrigals were published, and Gesualdo departed

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abruptly for Venice. In June he travelled home to his were evenings devoted to poetry and literature too, and 9 Amor, pace non chero 9 Love, I ask not for peace castle at Venosa, and then on to Gesualdo, “a place as to music, at which Fabrizio’s own compositions would (Torquato Tasso) pleasant and fair to the eye as anyone could wish, where be performed. Carlo grew up in a world where music Amor, pace non chero: Love, I ask not for peace: the air is truly clement and healthful”, but without his was of fundamental importance: he was taught by non cheggio usbergo o scudo, I ask not for shield or armour, new wife, whom he left behind in Ferrara. musicians such as Pomponio Nenna, Gian Leonardo ma contro al petto ignudo, but against my bare breast, Primavera and Jean de Macque (the latter two both s’ella medica sia, sia tu guerriero. if she be the healer, may you be the warrior. Gesualdo, the Prince of Venosa dedicated works of their own to him), frequent visitors to his father’s home. We know that he learned to play 0 Sì gioioso mi fanno i dolor miei 0 So joyful do my sorrows make me Carlo Gesualdo was, then, no ordinary musician: first the lute as well as to hunt. His first composition was (Luigi Cassola) and foremost he was a prince, a rich and powerful man. published when he was nineteen, in 1585: a five-part Sì gioioso mi fanno i dolor miei, So joyful do my sorrows make me, As will be considered in more depth in the notes motet (Delicta nostra ne reminiscaris Domine donna, per amar voi, my lady, for loving you, accompanying subsequent albums in this series of his [Remember not our faults, O Lord], issued along with che sempre amando ognor morir vorrei. that I would die loving you for ever. complete secular works, he became famous for two other sacred pieces by Stefano Felis) which gives an E fra me dico poi: And to myself I say then: reasons: firstly, the bloody double murder of his first indication of some of the themes he was later to develop se tal gioia mi dona il mio martire, if my suffering brings me such joy, wife and her lover (for which he has since been in both his sacred and his secular works – those of guilt, or che farà il morire? whatever will death do? immortalised in a number of plays, operas, novels and death, sin and repentance. even films), and secondly, his passionate devotion to The following year, when Carlo was still only ! O dolce mio martire ! O sweet torment of mine ardent, expressive music, both sacred and secular, for twenty, he married Maria d’Avalos, who was older than (Luigi Cassola) which he was admired not only by his contemporaries him, already twice widowed and had two children. His O dolce mio martire O sweet torment of mine, but by composers closer to our own times. Prime among marriage to one of the most beautiful women in Naples cagion del mio gioire. cause of my rejoicing. these was Stravinsky, who arranged some of Gesualdo’s was to end in tragedy four years later, when he E se ben di me privo Yet if I am deprived of you, pieces (the Tres sacrae cantiones) and, in 1960, on what murdered his wife and her lover as they lay in the bed io più beato e più felice vivo. my life is happier and more blessed. was believed to be the fourth centenary of his birth, where he himself usually slept. This episode, which had Questo è poter d’amore Such is the power of love, dedicated one of his own works to him: Monumentum such a profound effect on the rest of his life, and on his che rubbandomi il cor mi può beare that in robbing me of my heart it can pro Gesualdo da Venosa ad CD annum. In fact, music, will be dealt with in greater detail in volume two in forme nuove e care. delight me in new and wonderful ways. Gesualdo was not born in 1560: recent research has of our Gesualdo recordings, which will feature the established that he was born on 8th March 1566, in Second Book of Madrigals and his instrumental works @ Tirsi morir volea – Prima parte @ Thyrsis wished to die – Part One Venosa. His family had been established there for some (Naxos 8.570549). (Giovanni Battista Guarini: Concorso d’occhi time by then, his forebears having come from France, amorosi, da “Madrigali” CLI) according to some accounts, or possibly having The First Book of Madrigals Tirsi morir volea Thyrsis wished to die descended from Roger II of Sicily (Roger the Norman). mirando gli occhi di colei che adora. gazing into the eyes of his beloved. The Gesualdos were related to Carlo Borromeo (the The first Ferrara volume opens with a madrigal by Quando ella che di lui non meno ardea When she, who desired him just as much, composer’s uncle on his mother’s side, who was later Giovanni Battista Guarini: Baci soavi e cari, in two gli disse: oimè, ben mio, said to him: alas, my love, canonised) and were on excellent terms with both parts, tracks 1 and 2. This text was set to music by deh, non morir ancora ah, do not die yet Charles V and Philip II of Spain, who at different times various composers, including Luca Marenzio (1591), che teco bramo di morir anch’io. for I too long to die with you. during this period ruled over the territories of southern Adriano Banchieri (in his Barca di Venezia per Padova, Italy. They owned castles and vast tracts of land – they 1605, Un per de Marregali alla Venosa – Madrigale # Frenò Tirsi il desio – Seconda parte # Thyrsis did check the desire – Part Two were, in other words, extremely wealthy. Carlo’s father, capriccioso) and by Claudio Monteverdi in his First (Giovanni Battista Guarini: Concorso d’occhi Fabrizio II, and his mother, Geronima de’ Medici, were Book, 1587 (which we have also recorded: track 5 on amorosi, da “Madrigali” CLI) also very cultured and often hosted intellectual Naxos 8.555307). It is taken from the first strophe of Frenò Tirsi il desio, Thyrsis did check the desire gatherings at their Naples residence, inviting Jesuits, Guarini’s Canzon de’ baci (Song of Kisses), which also Ch’ebbe di pur sua vita allor finire, he felt to end his life that instant, astronomers, alchemists and even chiromancers; there contains strophes beginning “Baci amorosi e belli…” Sentendo morte in non poter morire. suffering death in not being able to die.

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5 Gelo ha madonna il seno 5 My lady has ice in her breast (Fair and loving kisses), “Baci affamati e ingordi…” With great sophistication, it describes the envy felt by (Torquato Tasso (1544-1595)) (Eager and greedy kisses) and “Baci cortesi e grati…” one who sees “a wise little bee” alight on his beloved’s Gelo ha madonna il seno e fiamma il volto, My lady has ice in her breast and a flame in her face, (Generous and welcome kisses). The sophisticated lips as she rests after “erring happily and willingly”. io son ghiaccio di fore I am frozen without erotic play throughout this madrigal, with its frequent Sì gioioso mi fanno i dolor miei 0, another highpoint of e’l foco ho dentro accolto. and have a fire burning within. gasps and sighs, conjures up a scene of love-making, this collection, is an early example of Gesualdo’s liking Questo avien perchè amore This is because love which becomes explicit once we understand the courtly for texts that juxtapose what appear to be conceptual or ne la sua fronte alberga e nel mio petto, lives in her brow and in my heart, linguistic conventions of the day – the word “morire” linguistic opposites: a Mannerist play on irreconcilable ne mai cangia ricetto, and never changes its lodging (to die) being a euphemism for sexual orgasm. There are but fatally attracted imagery, a confusion of ideas to sì ch’io l’abbia negl’occhi, ella nel core. to take refuge in my eyes, or in her heart. many analogies with Monteverdi’s version, especially defy reason and delight any reader. with regard to their interpretation of the text’s rhythmic- Questi leggiadri odorosetti fiori ^ begins to break 6 Mentre Madonna – Prima parte 6 While my lady – Part One prosodic subdivision, yet even a quick comparison of down the climate established so far in this book of (Torquato Tasso) the two shows that Monteverdi’s (though it bears “painful” contrasts (in that joyful and sorrowful Mentre Madonna il lasso fianco posa While my lady rested her weary limbs witness to an astonishing compositional gift) is a atmospheres alternate within it), and leads to four final dopo i suoi lieti e volontari errori, after erring happily and willingly, juvenile work, while Gesualdo’s is that of an sunny madrigals whose task it is to restore serenity. al fiorito soggiorno i dolci umori a wise little bee murmured as it stole experienced composer, one able to heighten the Felice primavera! &*is an overt tribute to the home susurrando predava ape ingegnosa the sweet nectar from that flowery bank, expressiveness of the words by skilful use of melodic of his new bride, Leonora d’Este, with its mentions of che a le labbra in cui nutre aura amorosa deceived by the sweetest of colours and tonal contrasts. One would therefore suspect that the flowery banks of the River Po, which runs just north al sol de’ due begli occhi, eterni fiori, it flew to the lips whose loving breath the piece chosen by Stella to open this collection and of the city before flowing into the Adriatic. Bella ingannata ai dolcissimi colori nurtures eternal blooms in the light of two fair eyes, introduce his patron, was no youthful first attempt, but a angioletta ), meanwhile, is a madrigal specially corse e sugger pensò purpurea rosa. and thought to drink from a deep red rose. far more mature work, aimed at showing off its author’s commissioned from Tasso by Duke Federico d’Este to refined musical talents from the outset. court a lady by the name of Angelica. 7 Ahi, troppo saggia nell’errar 7 Alas, all too wisely The very beautiful Tirsi morir volea @ also sets a Gesualdo’s music for Book One, as mentioned – Seconda parte – Part Two text by Guarini (first published in 1581 under the title above, is clearly the work of a mature composer, not the (Torquato Tasso) Concorso d’occhi amorosi in an edition of Tasso’s first tentative approach of a young musician to the Ahi, troppo saggia nell’errar, felice Alas, all too wisely do you wander, happy Rime, and also set by Marenzio in 1580, De Wert in publishing world: it is a book to be loved, read and re- temerità, che quel che a le mie voglie temerity, for that which to my desire 1581, A. Gabrieli in 1587, Luzzaschi in 1604, and G.F. read. As early as 1650, Athanasius Kircher quoted from timide si contende, a te sol lice. is denied, is granted to you alone. Sances in 1633) and has to be read with the same erotic Baci soavi e cari in his Musurgia Universalis, saying Vile ape, Amor, cara mercè mi toglie. A poor bee, Love, has robbed me of a dear prize. sense of “morire” in mind (although, might the tragic that its composer’s music should be studied for its Che più ti resta s’altri il mel n’elice? What have you if another takes the honey? sense not be equally valid here?). The second part, finesse and virtuosity. Many theorists and musicians of Con che tempri i tuoi assenzi e le mie doglie? How will you ease your bitterness and my sorrow? Frenò Tirsi il desio #, represents one of the summits in the day considered Gesualdo to have played a central Gesualdo’s writing, with its contrast between the rôle in the development of late Renaissance music; 8 Se da sì nobil mano 8 If by such a noble hand stunning dissonances on the words “sentendo morte” Monteverdi himself included him among the members (Torquato Tasso) and the ascending notes on the words “in non poter of the radical new seconda prattica. Giulio Cesare Se da sì nobil mano If by such a noble hand morire”, to depict an ecstatic ascent to either sensual Monteverdi, in concluding his defence of his brother debbon venir le fasce a le mie piaghe, my wounds are to be bound, delight or heavenly redemption. We shall see, however, against the attack launched by Giovanni Maria Artusi Amor, chè non m’impiaghe, Love, why do you not pierce that in later books, the word “morte” was to lose the on the works contained in the Fifth Book of Madrigals il sen con mille colpi? my breast with a thousand blows? erotic sense attributed to it by courtly lyrics and become (see Naxos 8.555311), also wrote of “his Lordship the Ne fia ch’io te n’incolpi, I should not blame you for it, the expression of “tragedy”, the supreme pain that man Prince of Venosa, Emiglio del Cavagliere, Count perchè nulla ferita for however grievous a wound must confront. Alfonso Fontanelli and Count di Camerata and other sarebbe al cor sì grave might be to my heart, Another tale of love and eroticism is to be found in gentlemen of this noble school”. Ferrara in 1594 was the come fora soave more tender still would be Mentre madonna 6 (also divided into two parts), which Mount Olympus of music, and for Gesualdo, this de la man bella la cortese aita. the gentle touch of this fair hand. sets a sonnet by Torquato Tasso, taken from the Rime. chance to publish his own works there, to gain entry

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into Ferrarese cultural circles and to mix with the best- along with the writings of Glenn Watkins) and also for IL PRIMO LIBRO DE’ MADRIGALI, 1594 THE FIRST BOOK OF MADRIGALS, 1594 known musicians of the day was a dream come true – a our pleasant and fruitful meetings in Milan – the happy brief period of tranquillity in an otherwise impetuous result of a shared love for Gesualdo’s music. 1 Baci soavi e cari – Prima parte 1 Sweet and tender kisses – Part One and turbulent life. (Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538-1612)) My sincere thanks are due to Professor Giovanni Marco Longhini Baci soavi e cari, Sweet and tender kisses, Iudica for his fine biography of the “Principe dei cibi della mia vita, sustenance of my life, musici” (essential reading when it comes to Gesualdo, English translation: Susannah Howe ch’or m’involate or mi rendete il core: first you seize, and then return my heart: per voi convien ch’impari you want me to learn come un’alma rapita how a soul in rapture Delitiæ Musicæ non senta il duol di mort’e pur si more. feels not the agony of death, yet dies.

The a cappella instrumental and vocal ensemble Delitiæ Musicæ was established in 1992. 2 Quanto ha di dolce amore 2 There is sweet love enough It is considered one of the most enterprising Italian early music ensembles, with important – Seconda parte – Part Two recordings in the last ten years that include the Missa Philomena Praevia of Verdelot, four (Giovanni Battista Guarini) widely acclaimed albums (Choc du disque and 9 de Répertoire in France, as well as the Quanto ha di dolce amore, There is sweet love enough Spanish Five Stars Award) dedicated to Masses of Palestrina based on the compositions of perché sempre io vi baci, for me to kiss you for ever, the Flemish composer Cipriano de Rore, Lupus and Jacquet de Mantua. Delitiæ Musicæ, o dolcissime rose, o sweetest of roses, under the direction of Marco Longhini, has also recorded Adrian Willaert’s Vespro di in voi tutto ripose; on whom all has ever rested; Natale (Editor’s Choice, Classica, April 1999) and books of madrigals – Pazzia senile & Saviezza giovenile, Studio e s’io potessi ai vostri dolci baci and were I able to end my life dilettevole and Metamorfosi – by Banchieri. The unconventional yet impassioned interpretations by Delitiæ Musicæ la mia vita finire, with your sweet kisses, and Marco Longhini are seen as an important regeneration of Italian Renaissance and Baroque music. The ensemble o che dolce morire! how sweet that death would be! is under exclusive contract to Naxos for a fourteen-CD collection of the Complete Madrigals by Monteverdi and a six-CD collection of the Complete Madrigals by Gesualdo. 3 Madonna, io ben vorrei 3 My lady, truly do I wish (Anonymous) Marco Longhini Madonna, io ben vorrei My lady, truly do I wish che fosse in voi quant’è beltà, pietade, there were in you either mercy or cruelty Marco Longhini graduated in orchestral conducting at the Milan Conservatorio and in architecture in Venice, after earlier o tanta crudeltade. enough to match your beauty. studies in composition, choral music and singing. He came to the madrigal repertoire after a long cultural itinerary in Che l’una al cor darìa quel che desìa, For the one would give my heart what it desired, early music, especially of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, concentrating his attention on the rediscovery of often o l’altra finirìa la vita mia. while the other would put an end to my life. unpublished Italian masterpieces of the past. Twenty years’ familiarity with this repertoire, performing it all over Europe, has given him a comprehensive knowledge of vocal music in opera and oratorio. In addition to his work with Delitiæ 4 Come esser può ch’io viva? 4 How can it be that I live? Musicæ, founded in 1992, he has a demanding career as a conductor of opera and oratorios, with engagements including (Alessandro Gatti) a stage performance of Monteverdi’s Orfeo recorded for Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana, Emilio de’ Cavalieri’s Come esser può ch’io viva, se m’uccidi? How can it be that I live, if you kill me? Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo, and an acclaimed production of Antonio Sartorio’s Orfeo staged by Pierluigi E come vuoi ch’io mora, And how can you want me to die Pizzi. Marco Longhini has an extensive discography (about 25 recordings) and he is the first conductor to make a se mi dai vita ancora? yet still give me life? complete recording of Monteverdi’s Madrigals (Naxos), an important project released on fourteen CDs. This is to be Fra due mi tieni, onde, tra morte e vita, Between the two you hold me, life and death. followed by the complete madrigals of Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa on six CDs. His recordings include Cavalieri’s Vivendo moro e non vivendo ho vita. By living I die and by not living I have life. Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo (awarded the French Choc du disque in 1998 and 9 de Répertoire), Adriano Banchieri’s Studio dilettevole, Il Metamorfosi Musicale, Pazzia senile and Saviezza giovenile, chosen by the magazine CD Classica as the best recording of the month in April 1999. Further recordings include Monteverdi’s Messa e Litanie della Beata Vergine, Cavalieri’s Cantata and Mass Sciolto havean dall’alte sponde, which was awarded five stars by the Italian magazine Musica, and many other works. He now teaches at the Brescia Conservatorio.

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Carlo GESUALDO da Venosa Madrigals Book 1 Delitiæ Musicæ • Marco Longhini

Marco Longhini Photo: Agnes Spaak 8.570548 12 Also available E A R L Y 8.555310 8.555311 M U S I C 8.555312-13 8.555314-16 NAXOS NAXOS Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, became famous for two reasons: the bloody double murder of his first wife and her lover and his passionate and erotic view of profane love. Brimming with often astonishing and sometimes unpredictable melodic and tonal contrasts to express the agonies and ecstasies of love, Gesualdo’s Madrigals show him to have been one of the most inventive and eccentric musical minds of his age. This is the first disc in a series of the complete GESUALDO: DDD GESUALDO: recordings of Gesualdo’s madrigals. Carlo 8.570548 GESUALDO Playing Time da Venosa 56:15 (1566-1613)

Madrigals Book 1 Madrigals Book 1 Madrigals Book 1 1 Baci soavi e cari (part 1) 3:36 ! O dolce mio martire 2:39 2 Quanto ha di dolce amore (part 2) 3:15 @ Tirsi morir volea (part 1) 3:21 3 Madonna, io ben vorrei 3:35 # Frenò Tirsi il desio (part 2) 2:46 4 Come esser può ch’io viva? 2:41 $ Mentre, mia stella, miri 2:56 5 Gelo ha madonna in seno 2:39 % Non mirar, non mirare 3:08 6 Mentre madonna (part 1) 2:39 ^ Questi leggiadri odorosetti fiori 3:37 7 Ahi, troppo saggia (part 2) 2:56 & Felice primavera! (part 1) 2:11 8 Se da si nobil mano 2:24 * Danzan le ninfe (part 2) 1:33 www.naxos.com Disc made in Canada. Printed and assembled USA. Booklet notes in English 9 Amor, pace non chero 2:03 ( Son sì belle le rose 2:31 & 0 Sì gioioso mi fanno i dolor miei 3:32 ) Bella angioletta 2:13 2010 Naxos Rights International Ltd. Delitiæ Musicæ Alessandro Carmignani • Paolo Costa • Fabio Fùrnari Paolo Fanciulacci • Marco Scavazza • Walter Testolin Marco Longhini Recorded at Chiesa di San Pietro in Vincoli, Azzago, Verona, Italy, from 23rd to 27th July, 2007 Producers: Lodovico and Marco Longhini • Engineer: Michael Seberich • Editing: Corrado Ruzza Recording supervisor: Antonio Scavuzzo • Booklet Notes: Marco Longhini

8.570548 The Italian sung texts and English translations are included in the booklet, 8.570548 and may also be accessed at www.naxos.com/libretti/570548.htm For a more detailed track list and artists’ details please see page 2 of the booklet Cover image: Venus, Mars and Cupid by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) (1591-1666) (Galleria e Museo Estense, Modena, Italy / The Bridgeman Art Library )