Looking at the list of composers on this album, one might wonder about the title Baroque 1, since apart from Henry Purcell (1659-1695), all the others are usually classified as Renaissance composers. Of the lot, only Henrich Schütz (1585-1672) straddles both eras.
Although it’s not presented this way, the disc can be divided into three sections: Italy, Germany and England, with a stopover of less than two minutes in Portugal, but well worth it for the Xicochi xicochi by Gaspar Fernandes (1566-1629).
For the madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) and Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613), two completely different styles, the interpretations are driven by the text, the essence of this style of music. For the Anglo-Saxons, all religious works, we feel the uniqueness of the ensemble according to the music.
We can assume that the next 8 albums will include a Baroque 3, since neither the 1st nor the 2nd features a work by the great master Georg Friedrich Handel.
