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Wonder Women
Wonder Women in Bloomington, MN
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This 2024 release by veteran ensemble leader
Christina Pluhar
and her ensemble
L'Arpeggiata
stood out from the crowd in the spring of that year, landing on classical best-seller charts. It is one of those albums that succeeds in what it sets out to do and then offers more. "Our new recording
Wonder Women
is dedicated to women,"
Pluhar
writes. "On the one hand, it is a tribute to all those wonderful female composers of the 17th century. At the same time, however, it also celebrates all talented female musicians of all eras, who for centuries had to hide their talent behind their husbands or abandon their careers prematurely." The album delivers here, combining solo songs by female composers who are becoming more familiar (
Barbara Strozzi
,
Francesca Caccini
) with names still largely unknown (
Francesca Campana
Antonia Bembo
). The music certainly holds up well in comparison with the productions of male composers of the day. The album also succeeds in its subsidiary, unstated goal, namely to draw connections between the court solo madrigals of these composers, which were marked by vigorously rhythmic construction, and the semi-popular dances of the day. Some of the latter come from Mexico, from a repertory explored by
Jordi Savall
, and
does them justice, accompanying them with a good-sized, shifting ensemble that gives them both oomph and variety. Moreover, she deploys a quartet of vocal soloists that are nicely contrasting, not simply singing deadpan renditions of the texts (which are included in the booklet for physical buyers) but delivering them with some drama and flair, with the singers well matched to the texts. The result is an unusually satisfying collection of early Baroque music by any standard. ~ James Manheim
Christina Pluhar
and her ensemble
L'Arpeggiata
stood out from the crowd in the spring of that year, landing on classical best-seller charts. It is one of those albums that succeeds in what it sets out to do and then offers more. "Our new recording
Wonder Women
is dedicated to women,"
Pluhar
writes. "On the one hand, it is a tribute to all those wonderful female composers of the 17th century. At the same time, however, it also celebrates all talented female musicians of all eras, who for centuries had to hide their talent behind their husbands or abandon their careers prematurely." The album delivers here, combining solo songs by female composers who are becoming more familiar (
Barbara Strozzi
,
Francesca Caccini
) with names still largely unknown (
Francesca Campana
Antonia Bembo
). The music certainly holds up well in comparison with the productions of male composers of the day. The album also succeeds in its subsidiary, unstated goal, namely to draw connections between the court solo madrigals of these composers, which were marked by vigorously rhythmic construction, and the semi-popular dances of the day. Some of the latter come from Mexico, from a repertory explored by
Jordi Savall
, and
does them justice, accompanying them with a good-sized, shifting ensemble that gives them both oomph and variety. Moreover, she deploys a quartet of vocal soloists that are nicely contrasting, not simply singing deadpan renditions of the texts (which are included in the booklet for physical buyers) but delivering them with some drama and flair, with the singers well matched to the texts. The result is an unusually satisfying collection of early Baroque music by any standard. ~ James Manheim
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