The lament became a current and important feature of Italian Baroque monody, with its rhetorical and therefore dramatic connotations, generally set over a four-note descending bass line. The best known, though not the earliest, of these laments is probably Monteverdi's Lamento d'Arianna, a later version of which, with a sacred Latin text, was included in the composer's Selva morale e spirituale, published in Venice in 1641. In 1607 Monteverdi had provided the music for a favola in musica performed at the court of Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga in Mantua, where the composer was maestro di cappella. Orfeo, with a libretto by Alessandro striggio, has a literary source in the Metamorphoses of Ovid. The success of Orfeo led to the creation of a new dramatic work, a tragedy in musica, in 1608, a deliberate attempt, as the pastoral Orfeo was not, to create a work that would in some way revive ancient Greek tragedy.

American-born soprano Jill Feldman has been at the forefront of period performance for many years. Feldman's debut solo recording for Linn is a vocal masterclass; her highly expressive style combines vocal agility with close attention to the dramatic content, beauty and meaning of the text..

Women in music, either as composers, performers, or inspirational figures, are never celebrated enough. This CD presents great examples of brilliant feisty women who, amongst the barriers imposed on them at the time, managed to survive history and leave their mark. These women charmed the courts of Italy, France and England with their talent and managed to create their unique musical expression, which deserves a lot more attention in our present time. Featuring the dramatic expression of early Baroque as noted on the works by Francesca Caccini and Barbara Strozzi as well as the flamboyant and groundbreaking pieces by Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and Elisabetta de Gambarini.

This splendid and authoritative recital by Elissa Edwards and Richard Kolb of arias and cantatas from Barbara Strozzi’s last published opus showcases the dramatically coloured, highly charged power of the composer’s expressive toolkit, lit by the emerging harmonic language of the Baroque, influenced by Monteverdi through her teacher Cavalli, as a serious precedent for the future of opera. In his booklet notes Kolb comments that in Strozzi’s time a taste for ‘indulgence in the sensual pleasure of vocal melody or as an esoteric manifestation of nothingness’ was growing – the future indeed.

The 17th century - especially in Italy - was obviously much more advanced in terms of women's emancipation than many a century later. At least we know of several female composers from this period who achieved fame and glory without having to hide behind a male pseudonym.

Venice, Rome, Naples witnessed the birth of the compositions found on this CD, places with pasts of thriving musical communities. In addition, these contained some of the greatest artistic innovation of the time.The "stile moderno", which marks the beginning of a new period in music, has its origins in Italy in the late 16th century, when composers such as Claudio Monteverdi and Giulio Caccini created a new expressive style, soon to affect the development of the whole of occidental music.

The revival of interest in female classical composers reflects a growing recognition of their overlooked contributions to music history. For centuries, women composers were marginalized, their works overshadowed by their male counterparts. However, recent efforts by musicians, scholars, and institutions have brought these composers into the spotlight, highlighting the richness and diversity of their compositions.

This is a generous and rewarding collection of a composer better known, I suspect, for her gender than her music. Barbara Strozzi’s biography (like that of her contemporary, the painter Artemisia Gentilleschi, whose life has recently been the subject of a book and a film) easily lends itself to romanticisation. There is no need to dwell on it here: the music and performers deserve to stand on their own.

The composer Barbara Strozzi’s “Ariette a voce sola opus 6” was published in 1657, and in it she explores the subject of pastoral love. This recording of the work features the extraordinary and beautiful countertenor voice of the young Japanese soloist Miroku Tadashi. The harpsichord is played by Silvia Rambaldi. Barbara Strozzi was the daughter of the Venetian poet Giulio Strozzi, and one of the most talented composers of the 17th century. Initially famed for her fantastic soprano voice, she developed into an accomplished composer, publishing eight collections of vocal works mainly based on verses by her father.

This is the first solo recital recording of mezzo soprano Romina Basso, yet currently one of the most busy and outstanding baroque specialists. Recorded in Athens with the Greek musicians of the Latinitas Notra ensemble and led by Markellos Chryssicos, this striking record offers incandescent and special performances of Italian baroque masterpieces that feature among the most heart-rending, including: Monteverdi’s 'Lamento d’Arianna', Rossi’s 'Lamento della regina di Svezia' and Strozzi’s 'Lagrime mie'.

L'apparition de compositrices en Italie au Seicento, siècle d'un extraordinaire bouillonnement musical, est un phénomène unique par son ampleur et la qualité des musiques qui nous sont parvenues. Qui ne connaît la compositrice et cantatrice virtuose Barbara Strozzi, ou encore Francesca Caccini, première femme a avoir composé des opéras ? De même, les œuvres de Caterina Assandra et Isabella Leonarda, empreintes d'un réel mysticisme, sont saisissantes. La cantatrice Maria-Cristina Kiehr, à la voix d'une extrême sensualité, accompagnée du Concerto Soave de Jean-Marc Aymes, nous plongent au cœur de la vitalité artistique de l'Italie du Seicento.

After the success ofOfficina Romana(awarded 5 Diapasons, 5 stars inMusica, and selected amongst the best albums inLe Mondein 2021), Le Stagioni, under the direction of Paolo Zanzu, invites the listeneron a journey through 17th-century Venice in the company of outstanding singers:Emmanuelle de Negri, Blandine Staskiewicz, Paul-Antoine Benos-Djian, Zachary Wilder and Salvo Vitale.From 1637 to 1645, between the opening of the firstpublicopera houses and the start ofthe Cretan War, Venicewitnessed a musical blossoming of international significance.

An homage to the Baroque singer and composer Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677), this album is titled La voce sola. That final word, 'single', 'only' or 'alone', points to the fact that most of Strozzi's works are written for solo voice, usually her own, a fact that makes her music especially intimate and personal. It emphasizes the uniqueness of her musical language and her distinctive voice as a composer but also refers to the difficulties of her striving alone in her personal and creative endeavors. This recital is a career survey of this great composer, from her first collections to her last opus, in chronological order, including a world-premiere recording of a work with no opus number.

A 17th Century manuscript that was compiled but Albert Bobowski, a Polish musician and orientalist, contains songs of the Italian Renaissance and the Ottoman court. Bobowski, alias Ali Ufki, was born around 1610 in Poland and worked in Constantinople at the Ottoman court where he was involved with many diplomats,clerics and travellers as translator, language teacher, mediator and adviser. Thanks to his diverse skills and profound knowledge of the Islamic-Ottoman and Christian-European cultures, he became a valued mediator between the two worlds during his lifetime. In this collection of European and Ottoman vocal and instrumental, sacred and secular, court and popular music, Ali Ufki switches between languages and music genres with a fantastic ease and naturalness.

Arie Antiche – a magical word for all who desire to enter into one of the most fascinating and powerful of musical traditions: the Italian bel canto, the realization of the artistic ideal of the natural beauty of the human voice in song. And who better to represent this ideal than Spanish soprano Maria Bayo. This, the first of Maria Bayo’s recordings for Claves Records, earned immediate recognition from critics, including receiving the «Vierteljahresliste des Deutschen Schallplattenpreises».