Album: La Venexiana, Claudio Cavina, Luzzasco Luzzaschi: Concerto Delle Dame (Glossa)

The madrigals of Luzzasco Luzzaschi are little-known, and were only saved from oblivion by the death of Alfonso, Duke Of Ferrara, who had guarded these pieces written for the three sopranos of his Concerto delle Dame.

Luzzaschi was then free to publish: the results would be hugely influential on baroque music, notably that of Monteverdi. The three sopranos are accompanied by a small ensemble who offer sombre settings for the ornamentation and serpentine monody of the romantic laments. Masterpieces such as "Troppo ben può" and "O dolcezz'amarissime d'amore" are the 16th-century equivalent of soul-diva showboating.

DOWNLOAD THIS: O dolcezz'amarissime d'amore; Troppo ben può; Stral pungente d'amore