The Queen’s Music: Italian Vocal Duets & Trios – Kirkby, Rydén, Harvey, Yamahiro Brinkmann/Mortensen BIS

Queen Christina of Sweden is one of the most fascinating characters in the history of 17th-century Europe. As the only child of King Gustavus Adolphus, leading champion of the Protestant cause during the Thirty Years’ War, she succeeded him on the throne at the age of six, abdicating 22 years later in order to move to Rome where she could openly practice her previously secret Catholicism. While still a reigning monarch, she invited a number of eminent artists and scientists (including René Descartes) to Stockholm, and in 1652 a company of Italian musicians arrived, engaged to supply the court with the very latest of music from Italy. A manuscript presented to Bulstrode Whitelocke, the English ambassador to Sweden at the time, contains some of the music that the queen would have been treated to. The programme on this disc consists of a selection from the Whitelocke manuscript, with Carissimi’s large-scale cantata I Naviganti at its heart. These duets and trios form a kind of refined entertainment music for intimate occasions: emotionally charged, yet playful songs about love and passion intended for an aristocratic audience. The combination of simple yet elegant melodies and colourful, sometimes even bold, harmonies lends these songs a particular sweetness which is here brought out by a close-knit group of some of the finest performers in the field of period performance today, with Emma Kirkby and Peter Harvey representing Whitelocke’s country, and Susanne Rydén and Swedish-based cellist Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann the realm of Queen Christina. They are joined by the Danish harpsichordist Lars Ulrik Mortensen, who also adds variety to the programme with instrumental solos by Frescobaldi.

Anonymous
01 Parlate per me 2’02

Luigi Rossi
02 Tu sarai sempre 2’14

Antonio Cesti
03 Già son morto 3’05

Luigi Rossi
04 Dite o Cieli 1’34

Anonymous
05 Pian piano mio core 2’43

Girolamo Frescobaldi
06 Toccata Ottava from Il primo libro di Toccate d’Intavolatura di Cimbalo 4’04

Giacomo Carissimi
07 I Naviganti (‘Sciolto havean…’) 12’56

Girolamo Frescobaldi
08 Canzona Settima detta la Superba (o Tuccina) 3’36

Luigi Rossi
09 O Cieli pietà 3’38

Luigi Rossi
10 Lasso benché mi fugga 4’40

Girolamo Frescobaldi
11 Toccata Nona from Il primo libro di Toccate d’Intavolatura di Cimbalo 5’27

Luigi Rossi
12 Pene che volete 2’06

Luigi Rossi
13 Pietà, spietati lumi 2’49

Anonymous
14 Partitevi da me 2’13

Luigi Rossi
15 Vorrei scoprirti 2’42

Anonymous
16 Occhi belli 2’14

Girolamo Frescobaldi
17 Toccata Seconda from Il secondo libro di Toccate d’Intavolatura di Cimbalo 3’41

Anonymous
18 E’ di ragion 4’18

Album total 68’16