Concerto Italiano | Rinaldo Alessandrini
Rinaldo Alessandrini | artistic director
One is immediately captivated by the Italian ensemble not only through its pure harmony, virtuosity and colourful gestures, but also by its natural and lively approach. Articulated phrasing, continuo playing full of fantasy, a transparent style of music making and its usual technical perfection are always equally remarkable. In short: perfectly interpreted Baroque music.
The interpretations of Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto Italiano have significantly influenced the perception of Italian music of the 17th and 18th centuries, making the ensemble one of the most outstanding of its kind. The Concerto Italiano has been represented for years on all the renowned stages of early music.
New Releases
Every single number is a gem. How great that they are being presented here for the first time at the highest level.
SWR Kultur, Podcast | July 22nd, 2024
You can listen to the new album here.
Awards
Diapason d’or de l’année 2024
in the category Baroque vocal music
A life dedicated to the divine
Alessandrini’s heart beats for that which is true and beautiful, which for him can only be found in early Baroque music and in Claudio Monteverdi. For four decades, his work has been characterised by this composer, who was declared a ‘divino’, the divine, during his lifetime. And for almost as long, namely 30 years, Alessandrini and his ensemble Concerto Italiano have focussed specifically on Monteverdi’s madrigals and recorded them. These recordings also seamlessly follow on from all their predecessors in terms of the beauty of sound, balance of voices, expressivity and comprehensibility of text that were already acclaimed many years ago. What remains is the wish that more of Monteverdi’s vocal treasures will turn up in the archives – so that they, too, will immediately ignite Rinaldo Alessandrini’s musical heart.
RONDO Magazin | CD Monteverdi Tutti i madrigali | Guido Fischer| June 2023
Reviews
Playing these assorted concertos and sinfonie one-to-a-part (plenty of 18th-century precedent here), Alessandrini and his crack players marry elegance with unfailing rhythmic zest, always attentive to textural clarity and the shaping of bass lines. The continuo (harpsichord and/or theorbo) adds impetus without ever becoming irritatingly obtrusive. Alessandrini and his band bring a devil-may-care exuberance to a Vivaldi ripieno concerto – one of the few works here with no Corellian pedigree – and a vividly gestural, quasi-operatic manner to a sinfonia funebre which may or may not be by Locatelli. In an enterprisingly chosen repertoire, Concerto Italiano are here at their exhilarating, imaginative best. Gramophone | CD 1700 | Richard Wigmore
Rinaldo Alessandrini | artistic director
One is immediately captivated by the Italian ensemble not only through its pure harmony, virtuosity and colourful gestures, but also by its natural and lively approach. Articulated phrasing, continuo playing full of fantasy, a transparent style of music making and its usual technical perfection are always equally remarkable. In short: perfectly interpreted Baroque music.
The interpretations of Rinaldo Alessandrini and his Concerto Italiano have significantly influenced the perception of Italian music of the 17th and 18th centuries, making the ensemble one of the most outstanding of its kind. The Concerto Italiano has been represented for years on all the renowned stages of early music.
