Da American Record Guide, July/August 2018
The motet genre, which takes its name from the French “mot” (word), is usually thought of as a choral genre for liturgical use. While motets can come in many shapes and sizes (and are intended for many different ceremonial occasions, not all of them liturgical), one seldom associates the genre with the solo voice. But as this new collection from the Italian ensemble Estro Barocco demonstrates, the solo madrigal genre made famous by Monteverdi had its corollary in a liturgical motet repertoire for solo voice and instruments. This repertoire was perpetrated by such composers as Giovanni Antonio Rigatti (1613-48), who was a chorister at St Mark’s in Venice, where he sang under Monteverdi’s direction. In his short life, Rigatti produced nine volumes of sacred music, some short secular works, and a massive collection from 1640 called “Masses and Psalms”.
Here 8 of the 16 motets from Rigatti’s second collection are artfully rendered on period instruments by the six members of Estro Barocco.
One of those members is soprano Paola Roggero, who approaches Rigatti’s decorative writing with great professionalism and sensitivity — indeed, one would perhaps like to hear a bit more flair and abandon in the delivery of Rigatti’s intense vocal ornamentation. This ornamentation is one of the more striking elements of his work; the sections incorporating sequential melismas seem to foreshadow the music of Bach and Handel, nearly a half century before they were born. Still, Roggero’s restraint is suitable — these are liturgical works, after all. And, given the fact that each motet is six or seven minutes long, the soprano demonstrates laudable consistency in what is essentially a marathon performance.
Rigatti’s music makes heavy use of the recitative style pioneered by Monteverdi and other opera composers of the early 17th Century. These declamatory sections, often involving repeated words, are interspersed with more metrical sections of music where voice and instruments engage in imitative interplay.
The synergy among the performers is palpable, with harpsichordist Barbara Petrucci and guitarist Ugo Nastrucci delivering delicate punctuation in the more dance-like sections.
The motets take as their source liturgical and devotional texts, many of them Biblical. One notable drawback here is its lack of English translations; some of the Latin texts are fairly arcane. The notes are in English and Italian. These are by prominent Italian musicologist Raffaele Mellace, and are exceptionally scholarly. Rigatti may never achieve the level of prominence reserved for a Gabrieli or a Monteverdi; but as an example of the early 17th Century liturgical Italian style, his music remains valuable.
OBEROI