With the exception of the oratorio Jephte, included in this handsome double-disc release, the music of Giacomo Carissimi has proven a tough sell even among audiences devoted to music of the seventeenth century. This album both shows why and takes a step toward dispelling the difficulty. As the title Carissimi: Music in Rome circa 1640 rather awkwardly implies, the program juxtaposes Carissimi's music with that of several contemporaries. There are keyboard toccatas in the Frescobaldi vein, as well as vocal works similar to ...
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With the exception of the oratorio Jephte, included in this handsome double-disc release, the music of Giacomo Carissimi has proven a tough sell even among audiences devoted to music of the seventeenth century. This album both shows why and takes a step toward dispelling the difficulty. As the title Carissimi: Music in Rome circa 1640 rather awkwardly implies, the program juxtaposes Carissimi's music with that of several contemporaries. There are keyboard toccatas in the Frescobaldi vein, as well as vocal works similar to the smaller Carissimi pieces. Director Graham O'Reilly and keyboardist Yannick Varlet (who plays a terrific small organ) emphasize the Jesuitical connections of this music, which is exactly what makes it difficult. The texts are complicated dialogues, packed with ideas, and mostly set in a flexible recitative. At first it's as if you've stumbled into a biblical debating society where everyone talks in music, but once you adjust yourself to the mood, the nature of the language becomes...
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