Lodovico da Viadana’s (1564–1627) life as a musician initially unfolded in Mantua, where he was appointed maestro di cappella of the Cathedral on 7 January 1594.
Upon the cessation of this position (likely in 1597), he moved to Venice (mainly to oversee the printing of his works), to Rome (where he claims to have conceived of the concept and function of basso continuo), to Padua, Cremona (where he held the position of maestro di cappella at the convent of S. Luca from 1602), Concordia (where he stayed until 1609), and finally to Fano, where he remained, still holding the position of maestro di cappella, until March 1612.
Later, he continued his compositional activity in his hometown of Viadana (part of the Duchy of Mantua) and its surroundings. He died in Gualtieri in 1627.
This album presents some of his Ecclesiastical Concertos.
Among those of his Opus12 (1602, Venice) are a series of compositions (which he called Concertos) for the unusual forces of tenor and basso continuo. The stylus gravis adopted by the composer often alternates with more lively passages that emphasize the meaning and liturgical pathos of the text.
Complementing Viadana’s concertos are five of the 19 Canzoni da sonare a quattro & otto voci by his Brescian contemporary Floriano Canale (1541–1616) from Canale’s First Book of Keyboard Canzonas (Venice, 1600).
Finally, there is a motet by Viadana calling for performance on solo cornett with basso continuo.
Other information:
Recorded November 2023 in Mantua, Italy.
Bilingual booklet in English and Italian contains liner notes by Federico del Sordo, profiles of him, the tenor and the ensemble, and the Latin sung texts with English translations
Lodovico da Viadana (1560-1627) was an Italian composer, teacher and member of the Franciscan Observant Order of noble birth, who held important posts as Maestro di Cappella in Mantua, Venice, Rome, Cremona, Padua and Viadana.
This recording presents Motets on liturgical texts for the unusual combination of tenor voice and basso continuo. The stylus gravis adopted by Viadana often alternates with more lively passages that emphasize the meaning and liturgical pathos of the text. All these short musical pictures are characterized - as the author himself says - by a pervading - sweetness & gentleness.
The Viadana Motets are alternated by instrumental Canzonas by Floriano Canale (1541- 1616), a contemporary composer of Viadana, from Brescia.
Italian tenor Angelo Goffredi, alongside his university studies in Materials Science (PhD), completed studies in singing at the Arrigo Boito Conservatory in Parma. He has performed in over twenty roles in Italian and European theaters under the direction of musicians such as Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Placido Domingo, and Claudio Scimone. Additionally, he has ventured into pop music, winning the Lucio Dalla award in 2022 at the prestigious Sanremo Song Festival with the CD The Soul Voice. Currently, his repertoire spans from Renaissance music to Mozart and Romantic music.
The Il Narvalo Ensemble, founded by Federico Del Sordo, recorded for Brilliant Classics works of Juan Francés de Iribarren (95859), the Psalms 42 and 50 by Benedetto Marcello (96135) and Sacred Music by Daniel Dal Barba (96189).
