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Review by Edvin February 17, 2007 (5 of 5 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics: |
A sparkling diamond and definately one of my records of the year.
I always find it difficult to write about older music because often I find that it sounds merely nice or not. But this SACD is so much more and it goes way beyond nice or not. It is a spiritual experience of vast proportions. Monteverdi, who wrote half of the music on this SACD, is the star composer here. His music is so original and emphatic, with his usual twists and turns.
Zefiro torna is a pastoral for two tenors and continuo and in a typical Monteverdi fashion we move from a scenic painting to a personal feeling of loss and longing. The two tenors, Leif Aruhn-Solén and Johan Linderoth are esqusite in their handling of Monteverdi´s dissonances and in conveying the feeling of...so much to lose and long for.
The highlight on this disc is the gorgeous Non havea Febo ancora where a young(?) lady is so incredibly sad and lonely after being left alone by a betrayer. I don´t know if Monteverdi had a sense of humour, but the comments made by the three men are hilarious. The lament by the nymph is heartfelt and the three men can only sigh and back her up. Poor lady in distress. This is sung by the superb contralto Lena Susanne Norin to perfection and she will make your heart melt, I promise.
The rest of the programme consists of music by Carissimi and Castello and everything is performed with utmost taste and expertise and I guarantee that you will love this record!
The sound in 5.0 is absolutely splendid. A generous acoustic and still lots of detail coming through. It is recorded by Torbjörn Samuelsson and his ears are among the most sensitive in the business.
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