And very fine they are too.
Tell us more, M Soudain.
Don't you mean Sgr Improvviso?
How are instruments used? and how many? and which ones? and how often? how big is the ripieno vocal ensemble? what's the basic vocal style used? how is intonation managed?
It would be lovely to have a complete recording of SMeS without any major flaws.
By popular demand...
I don't have the complete set yet but I'm going to be getting it smartish. What I have is a sampler disc without any particular note of the performing 'philosophy'...
The instruments are 2 violins, 4 players on 'basses de viole, lirone et violone', 3 sackbuts, 3 theorbos, one harp, 3 players on organs and harpsichords, plus a group called La Fenice: 2 cornetts, 3 more sackbuts, a dulcian and 2 more violins. Not too far from Monteverdi's specifications: there are plenty of the pieces where he gives four trombones as an option in the scoring. There's often a lot happening in the continuo department (there's a big ensemble including the viols even for Ab aeterno ordinata sum (the bass solo)) and at the final cadences you can tell from the ornamentation they're all enjoying themselves.
It's a bit hard to tell with such a big ensemble but there's certainly a bit of mean-tone tuning going on - which is obviously pretty damn important with all this chromaticism. Pitch is just a shade north of a'=466 as far as I can tell. The violins seem to be basically used where Monteverdi gives them obbligati (which is pretty often of course).
There are 2 sops, 4 (male) altos, 3 tenors, 3 basses - but most things are sung as a solo consort, Beatus vir for example (which is now spinning). They seem to be up to the throat articulations, they're all reasonably low on vibrato but have plenty of tone and character; perhaps just a little more warmth in the sopranos might have been nice.
I think you'd like it, Richard. Antheil, I think you'd probably like it too!
