Gramophone Magazine
October 2024
Editor's Choice

Hannah Ely, Barbora Kabátková, Mélodie Ruvio, Benedict Hymas, Tore Tom Denys, Jonas Nordberg, Philippe Herreweghe, Collegium Vocale Gent

Collegium Vocale Gent and its founder Philippe Herreweghe continue their recordings of the works of Carlo Gesualdo with 'Silenzio Mio', which contains the Fourth Book of Madrigals, published in 1596. Regarded as one of the most eccentric composers of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, but also one of the most creative, he experiments here with new melodic and harmonic effects that enthralled listeners of the time. These innovations are applied to poems by Alessandro Guarini and several anonymous writers, all of which focus on the expression of personal feelings, particularly a 'pathos' new on the literary scene. A veritable historical testimony to the artistic turning point that occurred at the court of Ferrara in the early seventeenth century, this fourth book takes its place in the long-term recording project of Collegium Vocale, hailed by critics for its 'homogeneity, contrapuntal transparency and luminosity, strikingly evident even in the most tormented pieces' (Diapason).

"Broadly speaking, his singers lean into dissonance without a hint of surprise and thus Gesualdo’s harmonic eccentricities are soothed by understatement and impeccable ensemble singing." - Gramophone Magazine, October 2024