Bononcini: La conversione di Maddalena La Venexiana

• Giovanni Bononcini (1670 - 1747): La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1:
• 1La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 1, Sinfonia02:30
• 2La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 2, Lusinghe sonore dell'alma03:39
• 3La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 3, Dopo le voci uscite00:43
• 4La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 4, Sorgi omai dal fango immondo03:44
• 5La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 5, Del favellar divino00:45
• 6La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 6, Sin che ridon le rose odorose02:40
• 7La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 7, Sotto le rose ascoso00:43
• 8La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 8, Chi sol prezza la bellezza02:24
• 9La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 9, Maddalena non più00:44
• 10La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 10, Fugge il tempo04:19
• 11La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 11, Maddalena infelice00:34
• 12La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 12, Odi l'etera01:44
• 13La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 13, Al sibilar tremendo01:03
• 14La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 14, In tepidi fiumi02:37
• 15La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 15, Quella che di Bettania00:23
• 16La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 16, Tal disprezzo a tanti onori?02:02
• 17La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 17, Ah no, de' tuoi natali rammenta00:38
• 18La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 18, Su l'april del tuo bel viso03:03
• 19La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 19, Sì sì gradito amore00:34
• 20La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 20, Goderò; piangerò01:05
• 21La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 21, Cieli che mai risolvo00:42
• 22La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 22, Cor'imbelle a due nemici03:39
• 23La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 23, Maddalena, e pur anche00:52
• 24La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 24, Àrmati contro te01:29
• 25La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 25, Sì, sì, risolvo01:13
• 26La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 26, Sì, sì, risolvo sì col mio dolore03:06
• 27La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 27, Figlia non più sospiri00:42
• 28La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 1: No. 28, Viver lieto fra i gigli le rose02:15
• La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2:
• 29La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 29, Vivace01:15
• 30La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 30, Seguite, seguite01:31
• 31La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 31, Al mormorio gradito00:53
• 32La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 32, Fila d'oro02:47
• 33La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 33, Questo non è del Cielo01:16
• 34La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 34, Quel volto, quel labro06:02
• 35La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 25, Oh, di genio indiscreto01:13
• 36La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 26, Goderà ne' sacri ardori02:58
• 37La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 27, Dal soglio dell'empiro00:39
• 38La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 28, Oh d'un alma che non ha fede03:38
• 39La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 29, Nel periglioso agone00:54
• 40La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 30, Pensieri che dite02:04
• 41La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 31, Confusa, irresoluta Maddalena00:40
• 42La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 32, Di lagrime di gemiti02:32
• 43La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 33, Non più Cieli, non più00:52
• 44La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 34, Comincio a sospirar05:26
• 45La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 35, Pompe fallaci e vane00:51
• 46La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 36, Piangi, piangi pur04:17
• 47La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 37, Piangi, piangi pur02:44
• 48La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 38, Sotto laceri cenci00:51
• 49La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 39, Costanza, pensieri, costanza02:19
• 50La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 40, Dunque fian de le rose00:46
• 51La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 41, Tenerissimi sospiri02:11
• 52La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 42, Pur alfin dal tuo seno01:57
• 53La conversione di Maddalena, Pt. 2: No. 43, Al nume umanato04:21
• Total Runtime01:44:49

Info for Bononcini: La conversione di Maddalena

Giovanni Bononcini composed the four-part oratorio La conversione di Maddalena for the Habsburg emperor Leopold I in 1701. The musician from Modena, at the time at the apex of his European fame, had at his disposal the best forces of the Imperial Chapel: four singers (two sopranos, a contralto and a bass) of top rate and an instrumental ensemble, limited to strings but adequately consistent to articulate a concert dialectic with tutti-concertino, including soloist pages for the violin, the cello and the viola da gamba.

The extremely popular story of Mary Magdalene – a subject among the most fascinating in the Baroque spirituality of the Counter-reformation – is dealt with in original terms by the anonymous author of the libretto, who through a suggestive use of poetry “places on stage” the difficult journey of conversion of the sinner saint. Mary Magdalene is urged by the percussive incitement of her sister Marta (like in the painting of Caravaggio), who at the end of several stages of a contradicting drama plot, will succeed in winning her over to the field of Sacred Love, making vain the offers and threats of Profane Love.

Bononcini reacts to the suggestions of the text by producing a score that holds a wonderful variety and a constant novelty of invention, and in which immediate heartfelt expressiveness, conspicuous vocal requirements and many nuances of timbre and harmony concur to define a sculpted profile for each character.

Emanuela Galli, soprano
Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli, soprano
Marta Fumagalli, alto
Matteo Bellotto, bass
La Venexiana

La Venexiana
has been founded and developed by the internationally renowned counter tenor and Early Music expert Claudio Cavina. Under his dedicated artistic direction the group earned his worldwide reputation as one of today’s leading Early Music ensembles.

The name of the ensemble La Venexiana is taken from an anonymous Renaissance comedy which counts as a masterpiece of Italian theatre for its use of language, a combination of literate Italian and dialect, and for its insightful rendering of society and manners. It was, in fact, a precursor of the commedia dell’arte. By taking on this name, La Venexiana attempts to convey in its musical interpretations all the theatricality, attention to language in all its subtlety, and celebration of contrasts between the refined and the popular, the sacred and profane that characterizes our culture today.

The members of La Venexiana are some of the most experienced European performers in the Early Music field, especially in the Italian Madrigal repertoire. They have been working together for many years, and have established a new style in Italian early music performance: a warm, truly Mediterranean blend of textual declamation, rhetorical colour and harmonic refinement. Besides the interpretation of Renaissance and Baroque music in historically informed performances the ensemble offers programmes which include jazz elements as saxophone, drums and accordion. La Venexiana presented the very successful programme “Round M” among others in Munich and Stuttgart; a recording has been released in October 2010. In Halle they performed a programme called “Handel meets Jazz” in 2011.

By now, La Venexiana has performed with great success at almost all major festivals and concert series around the world including the Konzerthaus and the Musikverein’s Golden Hall in Vienna, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg as well as festivals in Schwetzingen, Potsdam, Regensburg, Herne, Rheingau, Graz, Vevey, Cremona, Van Vlaanderen, De Singel in Antwerp and Brugge Festival. The ensemble has given concerts in Barcelona, Brussels, Utrecht, Strasbourg, Amiens, Barcelona, Madrid, Montpellier, San Sebastián, Mexico City, Bogotá and Tokyo. In the United States, it has performed, among others, in New York City, Ann Arbor, Chicago, St. Paul, St. Louis, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.

La Venexiana earned its reputation also due to the prizes it won for its highly commended records. The ensemble started recording in 1996 for the labels Opus 111 (Paris) and Cantus (Madrid). Since 1998, the ensemble has been recording exclusively for the Spanish label Glossa. Its recordings of madrigals by d’India, Luzzaschi, Marenzio, Gesualdo and the complete recording of Monteverdi’s books of madrigals and his Orfeo have won much notice and critical acclaim worldwide, including the Gramophone Award, the Diapason d’Or, the Editor’s choice of Repertoire, the Prix Amadeus 2000, the Caecilia Award, the Cannes Classical Award and the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. Lastly, a recording of Luzzaschi’s “Concerto delle Dame”, a box-set of Monteverdi’s madrigals (former recordings), and a selection of duets by Cavalli (“Sospiri d’amore”) and Bonocini, Steffani, Marcello etc. (“A due alti”) have been released.

In 2007, La Venexiana performed Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” in a half-scenic version all over the world and recorded the opera at the same time. This recording won the Gramophone Award in 2008. In 2010, the ensemble presented the contemporary premiere of Cavalli’s “Artemisia” in Stuttgart, Regensburg and Paris and released its World premier recording in 2011. In the same year, La Venexiana performed Monteverdi’s “The return of Ulysses” in Regensburg, Stuttgart, Paris and Amsterdam. In the last seasons the ensemble had been invited to Potsdam, Bonn, Styriarte Graz, Stuttgart (Liederhalle), Schaffhausen (Bach Festival) and Halle (Handel Festival). After successful performances in St. Gallen, Bucharest, Antwerpen, Tokyo and Berlin (Konzerthaus), the ensemble has recently been reinvited to the Haendel-Festspiele Halle, to Venice and Krakow as well as to the Schwetzinger Festspiele celebrating Monteverdi’s 450th anniversary in 2017. Its latest concerts lead the ensemble amongst others to the Carinthischer Sommer, to Bratislava and the Heinrich Schuetz Fest, to Boulez Saal Berlin, Vevey (Switzerland) and Italy. Upcoming highlights are amongst others reinvitations to Landshut and St Gallen.

Booklet for Bononcini: La conversione di Maddalena