Stefano Landi

Stefano Landi
Homo Fugit Velut Ombra
L'Arpeggiata
(Alpha 020)
www.alpha-prod.com

Occasionally a recording comes my way by accident that is so good that I want to do what I can to pass the word. Such is the case with Stefano Landi, the soberly titled but dazzling new release by the European ensemble L'Arpeggiata.

Headed by director Christine Pluhar, the group explores the work of one of the finest composers of early 17th-century Rome-Stefano Landi. Landi joined the ranks of the Palazzo Barberini in 1595, began publishing his own music in 1616, and within two years was appointed maestro di capella to the court of the Bishop of Padua. He would eventually go on to compose a wide variety of songs, liturgical works, and early operas.

What makes Landi's music so appealing is how easily it bridges the older forms of Italian song and the later emphasis on dramatic interpretation of texts. Landi paid particular attention to lyrics that suggested a dark side to their conventional, often frivolous, subject matter. For instance, in "T'amai gran tempo," in which a betrayed lover mourns the loss of his illusions, the song goes from slow and lyrical to furious and biting as the singer tells his former lover to go fly away with the crows.
Although their approach is largely traditional, L'Arpeggiata is not constricted by purely academic approaches. Many of the arrangements are playful, and period instruments are used in ways that make them sound almost contemporary. Most rewarding are the vocals, especially those of Marco Beasley, whose light, flexible tenor makes the most of the words.

It is a credit to the musicianship of L'Arpeggiata that the song does not come across as morbid; rather, this CD offers a fierce commitment to the moment and a celebration of the power of music to transcend all.

--Mary Dalton