Capriccio Stravagante - Skip Sempé

The ensemble Capriccio Stravagante takes pride in its provocative virtuosity, direct contact with the public and a Southern charm and spontaneity. During their first concert in deSingel, they presented a musical journey through seventeenth Century Italian vocal music. The Seventh and Eighth Book of Madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) are permeated by the 'seconda prattica', a notation wherein the text expression determines the actual flow of the musical line. With 'seconda prattica', Monteverdi established the principles both of opera style and of the accompanying monody in general. In the meanwhile, Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) transformed the evolution of instrumental music and the use of the basso continuo. Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759) frequently visited Italy. There he met Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), at that time one of the most popular Neapolitan opera composers. Scarlatti was to influence Händel's composition technique profoundly. Händel displayed his burning admiration for Scarlatti not just in his opera work, which established the Italian opera in London after 1711, but also the in his cantatas.