Album

In contrast to the great number of historical-instrument recordings that aim to bring neglected music to life by exploring it in depth, this collection of pieces by the German group Cappella Stravagante takes the opposite tack, offering, in the words of the booklet, "compositions covering an enormous stylistic range stretching from the Renaissance to the height of the Baroque." The program is very loosely knit together by the idea of the pastoral, as the title Canta in Prato (Sing in the Meadow) suggests—there are several instrumental pieces that don't have any particular connection with the theme, and the finale, Vivaldi's sacred cantata In furore iustissimae irae, is an operatic storm representing the concept of divine judgment—a connection with the pastoral idea that an audience of Vivaldi's time might not have recognized. The idea is intriguing in that the dividing line between Renaissance and Baroque is to some extent arbitrary; there are ideas that straddle the boundary, and Phyllis the shepherdess and others of her ilk date back to before the time period covering this CD and represented part of the scene from which Baroque vocal genres sprang. Cappella Stravagante is an engaging group that bears watching (this is its first CD), but neither the program nor the booklet is put together in such a way as to give the listener much context for what's being heard; the music seems to lurch from one style to another (as for example in the opening pairing of a Vivaldi aria and Henry VIII's Pastime with Good Company—again a sequence that makes a certain amount of sense from a modern perspective, but less sense from that of Vivaldi's time). Soprano Kathrin Freyburg handles the athletics of the core Baroque pieces well (In furore iustissimae irae is a good showpiece for any soprano) but has a tendency to overwhelm the earlier works. The disc as a whole uncomfortably lands in a space between sampler and thematic collection, but it does suggest interesting new lines of programming.

© James Manheim, Rovi

CD 1
Antonio Vivaldi Composer Canta in prato, ride in fonte, RV636 Work Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
1	Canta in prato, ride in fonte, RV636	4:19			$0.99
King of England Henry VIII Composer Pastyme with Good Companye for 3 voices Work Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
2	Pastyme with Good Companye for 3 voices	3:37			$0.99
English Traditional Composer Greensleeves Work Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
3	Greensleeves	2:36			$0.99
William Cornysh Composer Blow thi horne hunter (a3), S.29 Work Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
4	Blow thi horne hunter (a3), S.29	2:25			$0.99
Michael Praetorius Composer Bransle de la torche Work Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
5	Bransle de la torche	3:07			$0.99
Antony Holborne Composer Image of Melancholy Work Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
6	Image of Melancholy	4:57			$0.99
Michael Praetorius Composer Volta Work Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
7	Volta	1:22			$0.99
Johann Michael Bach Composer Es ist ein grosser Gewinn, aria, for soprano, strings & continuo Work Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
8	Es ist ein grosser Gewinn, aria, for soprano, strings & continuo	4:23			$0.99
Claudio Monteverdi Composer Clori amorosa (a5), SV 243 Work Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
9	Clori amorosa (a5), SV 243	2:29			$0.99
Claudio Monteverdi Composer Dolci miei sospiri (a3), SV242 Work Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
10	Dolci miei sospiri (a3), SV242	3:49			$0.99
Claudio Monteverdi Composer O rosetta, che rosetta (a3), SV 237 Work Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
11	O rosetta, che rosetta (a3), SV 237	1:58			$0.99
Alessandro Scarlatti Composer Lontan da la sua Clori, chamber cantata for soprano and continuo Work 9:29 Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
12	1.Recitativo	0:39			$0.99
13	2.Aria (Tempo giusto)	3:14			$0.99
14	3.Recitativo	1:39			$0.99
15	4.Aria (Lento)	3:57			$0.99
Antonio Vivaldi Composer In furore giustissimae irae, RV626 Work 11:14 Cappella Stravagante Vocal Ensemble, Kathrin Freyburg Soprano, Christian Hagitte Music Direction, Michael Leverkus Music Direction
16	1.Aria: In furore iustissimae irae	5:05			$0.99
17	2.Recitativo: Miserationum Pater piissime	0:36			$0.99
18	3.Aria: Tunc meus fletus	3:33			$0.99
19	4.Alleluia	2:00			$0.99