Classical Ear | Uno + One
Drawing on their considerable performing experience, New York-based early music group Tenet have produced a well-rounded and impeccably performed collection of lesser-know canzonette and instrumental works by Monteverdi and his Italian contemporaries. Sopranos Jolle Greenleaf and Molly Quinn meld their twin voices sympathetically in the madrigal master’s duets – the folksy Io son pur vezzosetta pastorella ('I’m but a charming shepherdess'), with its vibrant, Neapolitan-song-like harmonies; the dramatic mini-epic Zefiro torna ('Zephyr returns') or the impassioned Pur ti miro ('Still I gaze upon you'). The instrumental selections punctuate the songs agreeably, and the two non-Monteverdi songs, by the relatively unknown Luigi Rossi and even more obscure Martino Pesenti, are welcome additions to a delightful recital.