I was at Podium 2010 and had a few moments to visit with Leonard Ratzlaff, a prominent Canadian conductor at the University of 
Alberta. I’m a big fan of Len and have blogged about him before.
Len is a special kind of conductor. When he performs Monteverdi, he makes you want to perform Monteverdi.
I’ve heard his choirs perform on two separate occasions and marveled at how well they performed Monteverdi’s madrigals. I spoke to Len about his favorite Monteverdi works and this is what he gave me:
Luci serene e chiare (no cpdl link for this one)
And two cycles, described here by Len:
“Sestina” (Lagrime d’Amante al Sepolcro dell’Amata), translated as “Tears of a Lover in the Sepulchre of his Beloved”. It’s a cycle of six madrigals.
There’s another cycle, Lamento D’Arianna, four madrigals, that contains a quite well known madrigal, “Lasciatemi morire”, probably one of the most expressive and accessible madrigals of Monteverdi.
Both of these cycles are found in the Sixth Book of Madrigals. Another single madrigal I forgot to mention is “A un giro sol de’ begl’occhi lucenti” – very active parts, especially the beginning soprano parts. It’s from the Fourth Book.
James D. Feiszli says
philip copeland says
Sig Rosen says