Cappella Mediteranea
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Barbara Strozzi, Virtuosissima Compositrice

Barbara Strozzi was not only a virtuosic singer but also a talented composer. Following in the footsteps of Monteverdi, her vocal compositions display an array of different styles through which she expresses the intensity of human emotion.

“Few composers paint emotion as vividly and with as much depth, wit and poignancy as Barbara Strozzi. Born more than four centuries ago, this Venetian composer was a pioneer whose madrigals stand alongside Monteverdi’s as some of the greatest ever to be composed.”

A musical and poetic union

The Strozzi family brought together music and poetry, a union that was idealized under Humanism. Giulio Strozzi was a highly admired poet and librettist, while his adopted daughter Barbara was a remarkable singer and composer. She set many of her father’s texts to music, the most notable being his madrigals.

Barbara Strozzi’s work was certainly influenced by her teacher, Francesco Cavalli, in particular her motets and arias a voce sola, but it is Monteverdi who inspired her madrigals. Cavalli did not write madrigals, as he viewed them an antiquated form, far removed from his activities as an opera composer and first organist of Saint Mark’s Basilica. Instead, it was Barbara Strozzi who picked up from Monteverdi and further developed the genre.

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Released on 24 September 2009 by Ambronay Editions

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“Monteverdi’s critics accused him of ‘driving the senses mad’; in Barbara Strozzi’s hands, this highly concerted insanity is absolutely healthy.”
Gilles Macassar, 23 September 2009, Télérama

“Céline Scheen is a virtuosic soprano […] with a fruity voice and plenty of ‘pep’, and the whole ensemble […] displays a vibrant and breathtaking poetic imagination.”
Renaud Machart, 15/16 November 2009, Le Monde

“Cavalli’s pupil proves to be closer to Monteverdi. In her madrigals – as presented by Leonardo García Alarcón with his instrumental and dramatic flair – Barbara Strozzi reveals her talent for putting words to music with an intense and suave fluidity.”
Camille De Joyeuse, 10 August 2009, Classique News

“The exceptional success of this recording lies in the artists’ ability to recreate the expressive breaches of these madrigals without losing the main thread.”
Philippe Venturini, September 2009, Classica

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