Concerto italiano

Marking their 40th anniversary, the legendary Italian ensemble brings the composer’s extraordinary word-setting and no-holds-barred music and poetry to life. With his peerless sensitivity of response and unlimited compositional finesse, Claudio Monteverdi’s music sounds as fresh today as it must have done 400 years ago. His artistry would stop at nothing to wring the maximum emotional expression out of the words that he set. His fourth book of madrigals (part-songs) are groundbreaking, radical works springing from the heart of the early Italian Baroque. Here the composer presents settings of the sensuous and impassioned words of such poets as Torquato Tasso and Giovanni Battista Guarini, among others. Founded by the conductor and harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini, Concerto Italiano is an ensemble that has become inseparable from the music of Monteverdi, winning numerous international awards for its recordings. The year 2024 marks its 40th anniversary.