Heinrich Sch?tz and his Italian contemporaries

Maria BATOVA (soprano)
Andrei NEMZER (counter-tenor)
Kirill KRAYUSHKIN (bass)
ALTA CAPELLA early wind instruments ensemble
Artistic director – Ivan VELIKANOV

The destiny of the great German composer Heinrich Sch?tz (1585–1672) was in many respects determined by his trips to Italy, the centre of musical world of that time. He crowned his sojourn
in Venice, one of the main centres of Europian sheet-music printing with the publishing of musical opuses: «The First Book of Madrigals» on verses by popular Italian poets (1611), and
one of his chief masterpieces – the first part of «Sacred Symphonies» (1629). The music of Sch?tz is presented in the album surrounded by works of his Italian colleagues – G. Gabrieli and
C. Monteverdi whose creations served as a sample for him; outstanding virtuosos G. Bassano, B. Marini, G. Frescobaldi and some others. Their instrumental works surround the German
genius’ vocal compositions as if the sounding of voice in the latter is submerged into the aura of instrumental colours.

The Alta Capella Ensemble was the first in Russia to perform on a regular basis the music for wind instruments – early-baroque trombones and cornetts. «Fili mi, Absalon» is the first
recording of the young ensemble. «This attractive program ranges freely across Europe, capturing both in familiar and less well-known repertoires the varied colours and warm sonorities of the early 17th-century. In these performances, Alta Capella show themselves as worthy ambassadors for Early Music in Russia» (Andrew Lawrence-King).