WGBH Radio WGBH Radio theclassicalstation.org

Music For A Medieval Banquet / Newberry Consort


Release Date: 05/08/2001 
Label:  Harmonia Mundi   Catalog #: 3957038   Spars Code: n/a 
Composer:  Jacopo da Bologna,  Anonymous,  Francesco Landini,  Johannes Ciconia,   ... 
Performer:  Judith Malafronte,  Drew Minter
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Number of Discs: 1 
Recorded in: Stereo 
Length: 1 Hours 2 Mins. 

In Stock: Usually ships in 24 hours.  

Notes and Editorial Reviews



Infectious musicianship - Mary Springfels and the Newberry Consort are versatile and immaculately musical, and Drew Minter and Judith Malafronte are two wonderful and beautifully matched singers.

"A nice little surprise for me here. By one of those absurd accidents I have never before heard The Newberry Consort of Chicago. They are excellent, and I must try to hear their other records as soon as possible. Directed by the versatile and immaculately musical Mary Springfels, they have the benefit of two wonderful and beautifully matched singers: Drew Minter, billed as a countertenor though showing a full control of range that can go well into the Read more tenor register and with unusually clear diction; and the mezzo Judith Malafronte who has equally fine diction but at the same time a wonderful range of articulation that enables her to point the elaborate lines of the Italian trecento with precision and excitement. Just listen to the glitter as she sings Jacopo da Bologna's very difficult Non al suo amante—a song particularly important in being the only known Petrarch setting actually from the fourteenth century. To hear how well these two singers work together, listen to them in any of the three Landini songs they do together. And to get a sense of the sheer infectious musicianship of the instrumentalists you could try any of those long, rambling trecento dances they do as an ensemble, such as Cominciamento di gioia, where they resist the extremes of virtuosity but more than compensate by the sheer musical intelligence of their playing.

Solazzo is the young hero of a sonnet sequence It saporetto written by Simone Prodenzani in the second decade of the fifteenth century, perhaps in Orvieto. The poems name 95 pieces that Solazzo performs to entertain his hosts (of which a very large proportion can be identified from sources of the time), and they often describe how he performed them; it is a source of almost unparalleled information about the repertory of the time. So it makes a perfect framework for a recording, even if not all the pieces here are actually named by Prodenzani. (Perhaps The Newberry Consort can be persuaded to do some more Solazzo records?)"

-- Gramophone [7/1993]
Read less

Works on This Recording

1.
Non al suo amante by Jacopo da Bologna
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
Written: 14th Century; Italy 
 Language: Italian 
2.
La Badessa by Anonymous
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
Written: 14th Century; Italy 
 Language: Italian 
3.
Bel fiore dança by Anonymous
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
4.
Nova stella by Anonymous
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
 Language: Italian 
5.
Cominciamento di gioia by Anonymous
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
Written: 14th Century; Italy 
6.
Trotto by Anonymous
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Renaissance 
Written: 14th Century; Italy 
7.
Principio di virtů by Anonymous
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
Written: 14th Century; Italy 
8.
Dolcie signiore by Francesco Landini
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
Written: 14th Century; Florence, Italy 
 Language: Italian 
9.
Donna, s'i' t'ň fallito by Francesco Landini
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
Written: 14th Century; Florence, Italy 
 Language: Italian 
10.
La bionda treccia, ballata for 2 voices, S. 18 by Francesco Landini
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Language: Italian 
11.
El gran disio by Francesco Landini
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
Written: 14th Century; Italy 
 Language: Spanish 
12.
O rosa bella by Johannes Ciconia
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
Written: Italy 
 Language: Italian 
13.
Lizadra donna by Johannes Ciconia
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
Written: Italy 
14.
Alba colomba by Bartolino da Padova
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
Written: Italy 
 Language: Italian 
15.
Rosetta che non canbi may colore by Antonio Zachara Teramo
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
Written: Italy 
16.
Un fior gentil by Antonio Zachara Teramo
Performer:  Judith Malafronte (Mezzo Soprano), Drew Minter (Countertenor)
Conductor:  Mary Springfels
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Newberry Consort
Period: Medieval 
Written: circa 1400; Italy 

Sound Samples

La Badessa
Bel fiore danza
Nova stella
Cominciamento di gioia
Non al suo amante
Trotto
Dolcie signiore
Donna, s'i' t'ň fallito
Principio di virtu
O rosa bella
Rosetta
La bionda trezza
El gran disio
Un fior gentil
Alba columba
Ligiadra donna

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:  ( 1 Customer Review )
 Like Being in a Medieval Castle June 13, 2013 By Bruce Boss (Grass Valley, CA) See All My Reviews "If you know Medieval sounds, this CD will take you own on HiFi journey to a Medieval festival at the castle. The instruments are in tune and the sound is great. I play in an Early Music Consort and I love this CD." Report Abuse
Review This Title
Review This Title Share on Facebook