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Donald Macleod is joined by scholar and performer Christopher Stembridge to explore the life and work of Girolamo Frescobaldi.

They begin with an examination of Frescobaldi's early years in Ferrara, where he absorbed the city's rich cultural heritage. Alongside excerpts from Frescobaldi's first publications, there is music by the predecessors and contemporaries whose influence rubbed off on him: Josquin Desprez, a former maestro di capella at the Ferrara court; Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Frescobaldi's teacher; Alessandro Grandi, Frescobaldi's younger colleague at the Accademia della Morte; Claudio Monteverdi, whom Stembridge sees as playing Handel to Frescobaldi's Bach; a trio of Neapolitan composers, Gesualdo, Mayone and De Macque; and a Venetian one - Giovanni Gabrieli.

Donald follows Frescobaldi on his single recorded excursion beyond Italy, to Flanders, in the company of the papal nuncio Guido Bentivoglio, then back to Rome and St Peter's, where he worked on and off for the rest of his life.

Frescobaldi: Canzona sopra Rugier (Canzoni da sonare)
Les Basses Reunies
Bruno Cocset (conductor)
Alpha 053, Tr 3

Josquin: Kyrie (Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae)
David James, Ashley Stafford, Robert Jones (countertenors)
Rogers Covey-Crump, John Potter, Mark Padmore (tenors)
Gordon Jones (baritone)
Paul Hillier, David Beavan (basses)
Hilliard Ensemble
Paul Hillier (director)
EMI CDC 7 49960 2, Tr 1

Luzzaschi: O dolcezz'amarissime d'Amore (Madrigali a uno, due e tre soprani)
Musica Secreta:
Deborah Roberts, Tessa Bonner (sopranos)
Mary Nichols (contralto)
Paula Chateauneuf (chitarrone)
Amon Ra CD-SAR 58, Tr 7

Grandi: O quam tu pulchra es
Henri Ledroit (countertenor)
Ricercar Consort:
Philippe Pierlot (bass viol)
Bernard Foccroulle (harpsichord)
Ricercar RIC 013028, Tr 4

Monteverdi: Cruda Amarilli (Quinto libro de madrigali)
Concerto Italiano
Rinaldo Alessandrini (conductor)
Opus 111 30-166, Tr 1

De Macque: Prime stravaganze
Christopher Stembridge (harpsichord by Denzil Wraight)
Ars Musici AM 1207-2, Tr 12

Gesualdo: Gagliarda
Christopher Stembridge (harpsichord by Denzil Wraight)
Ars Musici AM 1207-2, Tr 18

Mayone: Toccata Quarta
Christopher Stembridge (harpsichord by Denzil Wraight)
Ars Musici AM 1207-2, Tr 20

Frescobaldi: Three madrigals (Il primo libro dei madrigali)
Rossana Bertini, Elisa Franzetti (sopranos)
Gloria Banditelli (mezzo-soprano)
Claudio Cavina (alto)
Giuseppe Maletto, Sandro Naglia (tenors)
Sergio Foresti (basss)
Mara Galassi (arpa doppia)
Andrea Damiani (theorbo)
Concerto Italiano
Rinaldo Alessandrini (director)
Opus 111 30-133, Trs 10, 21, 11

Frescobaldi: Two fantasias (Il primo libro delle Fantasie a quattro); Fantasia duodecima sopra quattro soggetti
Liuwe Tamminga (organ)
San Petronio Basilica, Bologna: Organ in Cornu Epistolae by San Lorenzo da Prato and Giovanni Battista Facchetti
San Petronio Basilica, Bologna: Organ in Cornu Evangelii by Baldassarre Malamini (1596)
Accent ACC 24169, Trs 3, 18

G Gabrieli: Canzo: La Spiritata (Raveri's anthology of 1608, Venice)
His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts:
Jeremy West, Jamie Savan (cornetts)
Abigail Newman, Stephen Saunders (sackbutts)
Gary Cooper (organ)
SFZ Music, pre-release

Frescobaldi: Canzon a 8 (Raveri's anthology of 1608, Venice)
His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts:
Jamie Savan, Jeremy West (cornets)
Adam Woolf, Abigail Newman, Emily White, Phillip Dale (sackbutts)
Stephen Saunders, Anthony Harwood-White (bass sackbutts)
Gary Cooper (organ)
SFZ Music, pre-release.

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