Anna Antonacci may not have the most alluring voice you’ve ever heard, but it’s a good one and her flair for the dramatic makes her a natural for music that portrays intense emotions. This disc is a byproduct of a staged recital program whose director, Juliette Deschamps, contributes hagiographic booklet notes that amount to an ode to the singer. Despite such off-putting gushing, the CD is indeed a chilling exploration of four heroines driven to–and beyond–the edge.
Monteverdi dominates the short program that builds to a stunning performance of Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda. Taken from an epic poem by Tasso, it tells of the battle between a crusader knight and a female Saracen warrior who, when dying, converts to Christianity, the true battle being for the combatants’ souls. We usually hear this done with three singers–the protagonists and a narrator. Here, Antonacci takes all three parts, illuminating them all with her declamatory skills and convincing portrayals, each line brought to life with passionate singing, assisted by Monteverdi’s powerful rhythms.
The other Monteverdi work is Lamento d’Arrianna, the familiar story of the abandoned woman pining for death as her lover sails away. It’s a text that has been set by many composers, but this is one of the most affecting, especially in so intense a performance. Antonacci swings from despair to her love for Theseus to thoughts of murderous revenge, and she’s compelling in all. One indicator of her powerful interpretation is the variety of vocal colors she adopts in the refrain “O Teseo, O Teseo mio”, encapsulating the wide range of the heroine’s emotions.
Shorter works by Barbara Strozzi and Pietro Antonio Giramo are sandwiched between the Monteverdis. Strozzi’s is another Lament, less beguiling, this time for a girl imprisoned in her father’s house for “bestowing on me a merciful glance.” Giramo’s Lamento della pazza, about a woman driven mad by love, is a virtuoso romp in which Antonacci revels in the hairpin turns of a deranged mind. Accompaniments by Federico Sardelli and his period-instrument group Modo Antiquo are on target, and the sound is first rate. [6/8/2006]
