Marco Beasley & Accordone olv. Guido Morini

When you hear Marco Beasley it seems that singing is the easiest thing there is. His interpretations penetrate straight to the heart. Beasley is a Neapolitan tenor and he has his father to thank for his British name. He developed his singing technique to such an extent that his voice sounds completely authentic. He has created quite a stir in the small world of early music. To perform old Neapolitan folk songs in this way is quite acceptable, but to do the same with the monodies of Monteverdi or Caccini seems less straightforward. However, it is the music of Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and his contemporaries that Marco Beasley and the ensemble Accordone have made familiar and famous. For this concert, Beasley and Morini have chosen a few of the most beautiful arias and cantatas from the first half of the seventeenth century. It was the transitional period from Renaissance to Baroque. Polyphony had to make way for the new Italian style, with opera and solo cantatas as striking examples. Excerpts from two Monteverdi operas alternate with lesser known pieces by such composers as Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643) and Giulio Caccini (1545-1618). Just like Monteverdi, they wrote dramatic melodies that deeply touched the listener. Emotions rise to the surface in this magical symbiosis of text and music. In this concert you will hear in its purest form the basis of what was later called opera.