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| Claudio Monteverdi |
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| Salamone Rossi manuscript |
The Mezzo Ensemble (artistic director: Doret Florentin) hosted Ensemble Naya and the Jerusalem Vocal Consort in “Polyphony”, an evening of mostly Italian Baroque works at the Eastern Music Center, Jerusalem, on June 30th, 2024. Vocal soloists were Yeela Avital (soprano) and Yaniv d'Or (countertenor). Playing on Baroque period instruments were Doret Florentin (recorders), Noam Schuss (violin), Orit Messer-Jacobi ('cello), Gideon Brettler (guitar) and Aviad Stier (harpsichord).
Works
of Claudio Monteverdi constituted a major part of the evening's program,
meaning that emotions would be running high as, within the course of just a few
bars, Monteverdi's madrigals would take performers and listeners through a
whole realm of human experience. Yeela Avital
and Yaniv d'Or, the vocal ensemble and instrumentalists opened with “Ardo,
avvampo mi struggo” (“I burn, I burn, in flames I melt.”) in which love is,
quite literally, a disaster as the singers urge to “tell everyone of the
danger!” In “Et e pur dunque vero” (Is it then true), to an ostinato bass and
affected by Monteverdi's use of dissonance, Avital, haughty yet vulnerable, was
convincing in the role of the slighted, angry lover. Then, introduced by two
solo singers, we heard a fresh, well-integrated performance of "Vago
augelletto che cantando vai" (Pretty little bird, you that are singing),
distinctive for its dance rhythms and changing moods and tempi. In "Si
dolce è’l tormento" (So sweet is the torment), its wistful text telling of
a broken heart leading it to the "victim" being suspended between
hope and pain, we are reminded of how Monteverdi renders texts with a radically
modern sense of human subjectivity. The song provided a fine template for
d'Or's expressive facility, with hearty sonic interest added by the guitar
(Brettler) and an embellished version of the melody played by Florentin. But
that wasn't all: on stage, engaging in movement and some vocalization, three
women dancers (choreography: Michal Grover-Friedlander) conveyed the
text's theme of heartbreak and unreciprocated love. In "Lamento della
Ninfa" (the Nymph’s Lament), written over the ground-bass pattern moving
through a descending minor tetrachord ("lament emblem"), we hear
the nymph (Avital) lamenting her fate in the middle section and the choir of
pastori (male choir members) introducing, commenting and concluding the nymph's
story in splendidly blended singing (note again the daring Monteverdi dissonances!) Prefacing this piece, the composer had specified that the soloist was "to
sing according to her emotions" (al tempo dell’affetto del animo), while
the pastori were expected to sing at a regular beat (al tempo della mano).
Avital's interpretation gave poignant expression to the nymph's depth of
despair.
When Claudio Monteverdi arrived at the court of
Mantua, he was initially engaged there as a viol player (a fact often
overlooked), where instrumental music played an important role. The latter was
largely dominated by the violinist Salomone Rossi. Playing the upper parts of
Rossi's "Sonata dialogo detta la Viena", Noam Schuss and Doret
Florentin highlighted the piece's conversational nature, with the two parts
taking turns, playing independently rather than sharing themes. Anchored onto a
mostly harmonic bass line, the unique style of this trio sonata (Rossi was a pioneer of the trio sonata form) invited Schuss and Florentin to attest to the
work's improvised nature, as each retained her individual style of performance.
Rossi’s great claim to Jewish musical fame came with his publication in 1623 of
"Ha-Shirim Asher li-Shelomo", a collection of 33 Psalms and other
liturgical poems (with Hebrew texts) set for combinations of from three to
eight voices and intended for use on festive synagogue occasions. There is
little information as to the manner in which any of Ha-Shirim were performed.
In "Barekhu'' (Bless the Lord), the solo was sung by d'Or (the precentor),
with sections sung by the vocal ensemble (congregation) and some instrumental
solos, the harpsichord solo (Aviad Stier) concluding the piece. Rossi's
"Kaddish" (a doxology
sanctifying God’s name) was sung a-cappella. The singers gave lively
expression to this strophic song written in the balletto style, colouring its
joyous dancelike manner with dynamic-, textural and tempo variety and the use
of a tambourine.
The concert concluded with works of J.S.Bach,
beginning with "Leget Euch dem Heiland" (Lay yourselves beneath the
Saviour) from “Himmelskönig sei willkommen” BWV 182, the aria given a moving
and profound rendering by d'Or, with Florentin's playing of the recorder
obbligato elegantly shaped. Concluding the program was "Ich lasse dich
nicht" (I will not let you go), Bach’s earliest known motet, written not
later than 1712, and possibly his most unusual (leading scholars to be
suspicious about it being from the pen of J.S. Bach). Both introspective and
playful, the two-movement motet for double choir made for a rewarding and moving conclusion to the program. And there was one more offering - J.S.Bach's funeral chorale
"Dir, Jesu, Gottes Sohn, sei Preis" (To you Jesus, God's son, be
praise) performed by all singers and instrumentalists.
It was an evening of fine collaboration and
informed, high-quality performance.