Infinite Refrain: Music of Love’s Refuge
with tenor Jorge Navarro Colorado and Laurence Cummings conducting the Academy of Ancient Music
17th Century Gay Love Duets
The first of its kind, this duet album is a musical journey that draws back the curtain which has obscured gay love-stories for centuries. In the 17th century, Venice offered a liberal safe haven of sorts to the gay community of greater Europe. There are accounts of outed artists escaping to Venice to live and work amongst its more permissive culture. Almost 400 years later, we reconnect with this uncommonly tolerant place and time to share a history that is yet untold.
The album includes vivid and charming duets from Monteverdi’s 7th book of madrigals as well as his touching musical love letters (lettere amorose). Additionally, there are four modern-day premieres of works by the little-known composers Boretti, Melani, and Castrovillari; including a moving duet for the lovers Hercules and Theseus as they exit the underworld hand-in-hand. Solo arias by Cavalli and Stradella depict the yearning of hidden love, and the recording culminates with one of the most beautiful duets of all time, ‘Pur ti miro’ from Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. This album is a recognition and celebration of gay love that spans the centuries.
Recording Monteverdi’s ‘Vorrei baciarti’
Recording G.A. Boretti’s ‘Se per tè’
Album Tracklist
1 Monteverdi Vorrei baciarti Claudio (Venice 1619) duet
2 Monteverdi Se i languidi miei sguardi (Venice 1619) Randall Scotting
3 Jacopo Melani Da torbido nembo (Florence 1661) Jorge N. Colorado
4 Monteverdi Perchè fuggi (Venice 1619) duet
5 Tarquinio Merula Ballo detto Pollicio (Venice 1637) instrumental
6 Daniele da Castrovillari Dove, m’ascondo (Venice 1662) Randall Scotting
7 Monteverdi Soave libertate (Venice 1619) duet
8 Francesco Cavalli Io resto solo?… Misero, così va (Venice 1667) Jorge N. Colorado
9 Girolamo Frescobaldi Toccata Quarta (Rome 1615) Laurence Cummings
10 Monteverdi Tornate, o cari baci (Venice 1619) duet
11 Giovanni Antonio Boretti Crudo Amor (Venice 1670) Jorge N. Colorado
12 Alessandro Stradella Oh quanti soli… Ahimè (Genoa 1679) Randall Scotting
13 Monteverdi Se pur destina e vole (Venice 1619) Jorge N. Colorado
14 Giovanni Legrenzi Ballo del Granduca (Venice 1691) instrumental
15 G.A. Boretti Entro l’orrida mole… Se per tè (Venice 1670) duet
16 Monteverdi Con che soavità (Venice 1619) Randall Scotting
17 Monteverdi/ Francesco Sacrati Pur ti miro, pur ti good (Venice 1643) duet
REVIEWS
‘a strikingly beautiful declaration of same-sex love’, ‘Scotting has made a name for himself both as an authority on Italian Baroque music and as one of its most exquisitely timbered interpreters‘, ‘hauntingly intimate‘, ‘two of the Baroque repertoire’s most outstanding singers’ – OperaWire
★★★★½ ‘discs such as this also allow present-day listeners greater connection with and ownership of the musical riches of the past’, ‘no shrinking violet, singer and scholar Randall Scotting has boldly explored the issue of sexuality across the considerable breadth of his work’, ‘a heady mix of musical flair and earthy passion’, ‘[a] ground-breaking musical endeavour’, ‘this disc should receive an enthusiastic embrace‘- Limelight
★★★★ Performance ★★★★★ Recording ‘vibrantly seductive’, ‘an unerring sense of the lover’s psychology’, ‘Scotting borrows your heart in Monteverdi’s ‘Con che soavità’ – BBC Music Magazine
‘an ode to loving freedom’, ‘brave, committed and full of formidable music’ – Ritmo
‘The programme engages on multiple levels’, ‘explicitly celebrates the freedom that gay men found in 17th century Venice’, both singers have a lovely flexibility and naturalness‘, ‘a programme about the twists and turns of love‘, ‘Scotting is as much at home doing research in libraries as he is in the concert hall, and the programme concept, repertoire selections, performing editions, and English translations for this album are all his’, ‘with Cummings and the Academy of Ancient Music, the two singers are wonderfully supported by a constellation of fine soloists in concert. – Planet Hugill
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ERCOLE SU’L TERMODONTE : Vivaldi
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