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Monteverdi Concert At W&L Tuesday
The Washington and Lee Department of Music will present a concert entitled “Nymphs and Shepherds,” featuring music by the early baroque master composer Claudio Monteverdi and his contemporaries on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 p.m. in Wilson Concert Hall.
Washington and Lee music faculty members William McCorkle (harpsichord) and Scott Williamson (tenor) will be joined by Sarah Gabrielle Lynch ‘24 (soprano), Michael McLaughlin ‘23 (baritone), and Kailesh Amilcar ‘26 (bass).
Claudio Monteverdi (15671643), considered one of the giants in the history of European music, flourished as the leading musician of Venice in the first half of the 17th century. His music exemplifies the evolution of vocal (and instrumental) music into a new style, which has come to be called “baroque.”
The featured work on the program will be the ensemble’s performance of the famous “Lamento della Ninfa” (“Lament of the Nymph”), from Monteverdi’s eighth book of madrigals (1638). Setting a poem by the poet Ottavio Rinuccini, Monteverdi sets the lament of an abandoned woman for solo soprano, with a trio of male voices provided commentary in the manner of a “Greek” chorus.
Tenor Williamson will offer “Vi ricorda, o boschi ombrosi” (“I remember you, dark forest”), an aria from the celebrated early opera “Orfeo” ( 1607). S oprano Lynch will present the solo song “Quel sguardo sdegnosetto” (“That Haughty Little Glance”) from the song collection “Scherzi M usicali” (1632). As a complement to the vocal works, McCorkle will present harpsichord composition by Monteverdi’s Venetian contemporaries, Giovanni Picchi and Giovanni Battista Grillo.
Said McCorkle, “This will be a short ‘sorbet’ of a concert to celebrate the season of spring, the music of the great Monteverdi, and the musical talents of four remarkable singers.”
