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
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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]
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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 virtù 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'ò 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
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."
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