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Title: Italian madrigals as they should be sung
Review: When I first heard this CD at a friend's house, I was certain the singers were Italian because they so surely expressed both the meaning of the verse and the emotional mood of the music. The selection of madrigals presents a useful survey of the genre; they range from Arcadelt's superb early madrigal "Il bianco e dolce cigno", to Monteverdi's equally moving "Lasciate mi morire" written at the end of the Italian Renaissance. This is the way madrigals should be sung, with one voice to a part so that the contours of each independent line can be expressed and heard. The Amaryllis Consort performs these pieces as well as anyone I've ever heard.
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