La Pazza

La Pazza

Flavio Ferri-Benedetti
Ensemble Il Profondo

Early Baroque Italian pieces on the theme of madness and craziness
Music by Ferrari, Monteverdi, Strozzi, Trabaci, D'India and others

"La Pazza" (Italian for "mad", "insane") is the title of the new album by countertenor Flavio Ferri-Benedetti and the basso continuo ensemble Il Profondo. The name says it all: the recording brings together early Baroque Italian pieces with texts on themes such as frenzy, love madness, religious madness, foolishness and true madness. Composers such as Benedetto Ferrari, Claudio Monteverdi, Barbara Strozzi, Francesca Caccini, Sigismondo D'India, Giovanni Maria Trabaci and Gioanpietro Del Buono are involved. The focus is on the long, cantata-like piece "La Pazzia" by an anonymous composer, which the performers have unearthed, transcribed and recorded for the first time on this CD.

In this album, it is not only the texts that are set to music that have something to do with madness: the execution and instrumentation are also exotic. Il Profondo uses nine continuo players who play twelve different instruments, including colascione, baroque mandolin and cimbalo cromatico (enharmonic harpsichord with split keys). Each piece is scored differently and thus has its own character: from intimate moments in which the singer is accompanied only by a lute to polychoral situations with viol consort, lute consort and harpsichord.

The duo Flavio Ferri-Benedetti and Il Profondo released the CD »Passo di pena in pena« on the Spanish label Cantus in 2012 and received extremely positive press coverage, including five Diapasons.

Ensemble Il Profondo:

• Johannes Keller, harpsichord
• Masako Art, harp
• Amélie Chemin, viola da gamba
• Sophie Lamberbourg, viola da gamba
• Jonathan Pešek, viola da gamba
• Federico Abraham, violin
• Daniele Caminiti, theorbo and archlute
• Josías Rodríguez Gándara, archlute and baroque guitar
• Mirko Arnone, baroque mandolin, archlute and colascione

Tracklist "La Pazza"

01. Anonymous: "S'io son pazzo" from PN-Rés. Vm7. 59
02. Sigismondo D'India (ca. 1582–1629): "Tutto il dì piango" from Le musiche – libro terzo a una e due voci, Milan 1618
03. Giovanni Maria Trabaci (1575–1647): "Consonanze Stravaganti" from Ricercate, Canzone Franzese, ... Libro primo, Naples 1603
04. Anonymous: "La Pazzia" from PEc ms 2890 inv. 206575 - World premiere recording
05. Anonymous: "Romanesca" from I-Rvat Chigi Q.IV.28, harp solo
06. Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677): "L'Eraclito amoroso" from Cantate, ariette e duetti, Opus 2, Venice 1651
07. Anonymous: "Romanesca" from I-Rvat Chigi Q.IV.28, harpsichord solo
08. Francesca Caccini (1587–1641): "Let us leave you alone" from The First Book of Music, 1618
09. Anonymous: "Romanesca" from I-Rvat Chigi Q.IV.28, arranged for lute consort
10. Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677): "È pazzo il mio core" from Arie a voce sola, Opus 8, 1664
11. Gioanpietro del Buono (1601–1656): "LXXVII, Obligo di dui Zoppi, e dui Ciechi" from Canoni, oblighi, et sonata..., Palermo 1641
12. Benedetto Ferrari (1603–1681): "Occhi miei" from Musiche Varie, Venice 1633
13. Giovanni Maria Trabaci (1575–1647): "Durezze e Ligature" from Ricercate, Canzone Franzese, ... Libro primo, Naples 1603
14. Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643): "Visiting bird of life" (Ciaccona) from Scherzi musicali, 1632