The idea is interesting on the face of it: the Duke of Ferrara, at his court in the late 16th century, maintained a "concerto segreto," secret concerts of three singers who also accompanied themselves on instruments. The three singers of
La Nereide
have performed a program based on this repertory, reproducing the original circumstances as far as possible. It is perhaps a trifle less effective on a recording, where they employ other instrumentalists for accompaniment, but this almost unknown repertory holds plenty of interest in itself. The music on the album is mostly by the melodiously named
Luzzasco Luzzaschi
, the Duke's court composer, with other works by his contemporary
Luca Marenzio
and the slightly later
Claudio Monteverdi
and
Francesca Caccini
(who makes the cut because her opera
La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola di Alcina
, the first opera by a woman, contains an excerpt calls "Le tre sirene"). This was progressive music for the time, including some of the sharp dissonances better known in the writing of
Carlo Gesualdo
and also the emerging texture in which melody was accompanied by a continuo. Thus,
captures the swirl of influences out of which early opera emerged, framing them in a vivid scene that will be unfamiliar, like the music in general, to most listeners. The three women have a strong sense of ensemble, and the engineering from the small Notre-Dame-des-Centeilles chapel suggests the music's original surroundings. A really interesting release for those fascinated by the late Renaissance. ~ James Manheim