“Just one cornetto“ in our concert – our cornetto looked like the middle one.
We also heard and saw a beautiful cetterone, an instrument about which I needed to do research afterwards. Likewise the lirone, (see below).
But the thing that made this concert so very special was the extraordinary piece we heard. Emilio de’ Cavalieri’s Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo.
Those programme notes describe the piece as an:
uncategorisable piece of music-theatre [which was] premièred in Rome in February 1600…
Coincidentally, I had only recently put on, at Hampton Court Palace, my own uncategorisable piece of music-theatre from around that period
…but I digress.
Vox Luminis are a wonderful outfit who don’t tend to disappoint. This evening was no exception. They perform with smiles on their faces and clearly celebrate each other’s and their joint success.
Here is a trailer of Vox Luminis performing this very piece in 2021 in Utrecht. Different soloists, but you can’t have everything:
Janie and I are not easily wowed these days – we’ve seen a lot of excellent concerts in our time, but this one blew our metaphorical socks off. Delicious music, sounding a little different from anything we’ve heard before from that period. Sweeter than Monteverdi oratorios, but loads going on in the soundscape.
A real treat.