Fire or ice? Spring or winter? April offers both as does Monteverdi, a composer who still towers over his time in his ability to move the listener – and to mould sound.

Fire & Ice offers the very finest of his a cappella miniatures: ‘O primavera’ seems to offer the hope of spring, ‘Rimanti in pace’ seems to combine the clarity of Palestrina with the passion of Puccini while ‘Lamento d’Arianna’ (with its famous ‘lasciatemi morire’) uses raw dissonance to scream its outrage. Breaking up these masterworks, accompanied solos and duets, from his rarely heard ‘Salve o regina’, the virtuosic ‘Parlo, misero’ and everyone’s favourite ‘Lament of the nymph’, a rhapsodic cry over a mesmerising repeating bassline.

As I Fagiolini looks towards its 40th anniversary, it returns to a life-long passion for the music of Monteverdi. Introduced by Robert Hollingworth (who also set up the podcast Choral Chihuahua and the Youtube series, Sing The Score), the group’s recordings, live work and films have been an inspiration to lovers of early music.

After the concert, the artists will be in the foyer to meet and greet the audience. The bar will remain open. 

Running time: 1 hour (no interval)

…Hollingworth and his singers remain a superb ensemble, outstanding in their range and versatility. The Guardian

…frankly astonishing, with wrenching suspensions and startling, stuttering ornaments… Bachtrack

Download the concert programme

Monteverdi
O primavera, gioventù dell’anno SV68
‘Rimanti in pace’ a la dolente e bella SV74
Lamento della ninfa SV163
Sfogava con le stelle SV78
Longe da te, cor mio SV92
Salve o regina SV326
Cruda Amarilli SV94
Era l’anima mia SV96
Parlo, miser, o taccio? SV136
Lamento d’Arianna (Secondo) SV107

I Fagiolini
Anna Crookes soprano
Rebecca Lea soprano
Martha McLorinan mezzo-soprano
Matthew Long tenor
Frederick Long bass
Eligio Quinteiro chitarrone
Robert Hollingworth director, organ