Madrigaux De Torquato Tasso [CD de audio] Concerto Italiano and Claudio Monteverdi

Monteverdi wrote numerous madrigals, like many composers of the Baroque era. This was due, on the one hand, to the great demand for such works at that time in the lively concert world, which was mainly cultivated in palaces, churches and monasteries. Austere instrumentation, talented singers and verses from the greatest poets, that is the mix with which Monteverdi created his famous 'Tasso madrigals', which are among the best and most expressive of his craft. Monteverdi was one of the protagonists of madrigalistica, which reached its climax under his command. Strangely, madrigals were no longer used in the Baroque. Monteverdi probably met the poet Torquato Tasso at the court of Mantua around 1580. He immortalized Tasso's grandiose lyrics in numerous madrigals, which were rather mundane in nature. It was a few years earlier when the composer Giaches de Wert introduced Monteverdi to the madrigal form. But what Monteverdi formed with this new structure was a new dimension of vocal dramaturgy, which is perceived as small opera scenes, the ensemble singers became soloists. After 1600, Monteverdi finally took the first step towards musical drama: his madrigals are therefore the last breath of music history before the opera chapter.