BREMF – La Sera del Combattimento – La Fonte Musica, Michele Pasotti (director)
On the day we turn the clocks back, ready for winter, we were transported by La Fonte Musica to Venice in 1624, on a Carnival evening so in February or March. No worries – Monteverdi’s music is so hot-blooded and invigorating, especially when performed with such grace and vitality. In response to the bequest of the late Co-Founder and Artistic Director of BREMF, Deborah Roberts BEM, this programme was conceived to bring some Italian heat and light and precious music to Brighton. Michele Pasotti was in full control, not only conducting but also playing the basso continuo, gently modelling the elegant phrasing and ensemble.
The musical scene was set with a selection of instrumental Sinfonias and Sonatas by Monteverdi and his contemporaries Rossi and Castello, interspersed with some increasingly more elaborate madrigals which in their complexity broke the period conventions of counterpoint. However, to our modern ears the music sounded wonderfully lush and evocative, especially as it was sung with such assurance. The shocking dissonance and suspensions were sometimes outrageous but utterly delightful, being so precisely tuned and delivered with diction so expressive.
La Fonte Musica
The programme culminated in Monteverdi’s risky experiment, expressing in musical terms Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda – the fatal contest between Tancred, the Crusader Paladin, and Clorinda, a Saracen Amazon. Mauro Borgioni made an imposing figure and his sturdy baritone filled the church with ease as he narrated Torquato Tasso’s epic tale with authority and brio. The rushing of the horses, the quickening of the pulse, the fury of the fray were all energetically articulated as Monteverdi’s score required. We heard the panting and sighs, the hesitations and lunges. Alena Dantcheva and Massimo Altieri sang the rôles of the adversaries. The dramatic tension was extreme and very exciting. After Clorinda’s final words “I go in peace.” there was silence – a lunga pausa — then thunderous applause!
When the acclaim had eased, Michele Pasotti said a few words about how he had planned this concert with Deborah Roberts and in her honour the choir were joined by soprano Hannah Ely, Deborah’s successor as Co-Artistic Director of BREMF, to sing the final section of William Cornysh’s sublime Salve Regina from the Eton Choir Book. What a glorious memorial!
Andrew Connal
St Martin’s Church,
25 October 2025
Rating:
La Fonte Musica
Alena Dantcheva & Francesca Cassinari sopranos
Elena Carzaniga alto
Gianluca Ferrarini & Massimo Altieri tenors
Mauro Borgioni baritone
Alessandro Ravasio bass
Stefano Rossi & Esther Crazzolara violin
Gianni De Rosa viola
Vanni Moretto double bass
Federica Bianchi harpsichord
Rodney Prada viola da gamba, lirone
Michele Pasotti theorbo, lute, director
Programme:
Salomone Rossi c.1570-1630 – Sinfonia grave à 5
Claudio Monteverdi 1567-1643 – Sfogava con le stelle (Madrigali, libro IV)
Monteverdi – Cruda Amarilli (Madrigali, libro V)
Dario Castello fl.1610-1620 – Sonata XV
Monteverdi – Anima mia perdona/Che se tu se’ il cor mio (Madrigali, libro IV)
Monteverdi – Sinfonia (da ‘Orfeo’)
Monteverdi – Ohimè il bel viso (Madrigali, libro VI)
Monteverdi – Sinfonia (Madrigali, libro VIII)
Monteverdi – Zefiro Torna e’ bel tempo rimena (Madrigali, libro VI)
Rossi – Sonata ‘La Moderna’
Monteverdi – Hor che’l ciel e la terra (Madrigali, libro VIII)
Monteverdi – Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
encore: William Cornysh – Salve Regina final section
