La compañia – Il Paradiso

 La compañia – Il Paradiso. Image via Melbourne Recital Centre.

La compañia (‘the company’ in Spanish) is a Renaissance/Baroque band that specialises in performing the glorious body of sacred and secular vocal and instrumental music from Italy and Spain on original instruments. On Saturday evening I was reminded what a balm for the ears this basic combination of instruments provides (violin, chamber organ, sackbuts, viola da gamba and theorbo), particularly after a week of incessant anxious political noise. This concert sees the ensemble’s return to the Deakin Edge from the Melbourne Recital Centre. Happily its audience appears to be expanding and its season will be increased to four concerts at Federation Square in 2017.

This shortish recital delivered a program of Italian repertoire from the very late Renaissance to the early Baroque when music became chord-based and melodic. Nine composers were represented with secular madrigals, a sacred motet and instrumental music. And what glorious music it was, providing a reminder of how exquisite this aesthetic was, with composers seeking perfection in expression and form.

Of the 13 works performed, highlights were the Overture Toccata to Monteverdi’s early opera L’orfeo followed by the Sinfonia with its deeply touching harmonic shifts and glorious cadences, the perfectly paced Passacalle by Andrea Falconieri and the delightful Folle è ben che si crede by Tarquinio Merula which left us all smiling with delight. Along the way there were some missed entries and ensemble problems though they didn’t overly concern. What was evident was a formidable and sure musical camaraderie from this company that impressed for its elegance, ‘open’ sound, sincerity and integrity.

Hannah Irvine has a true and lovely soprano voice, with accurate tuning, good pronunciation of Italian and Latin and a close understanding of the sensibility of the period in phrasing and ornamentation. It is though a young voice that would benefit from further development and refinement in Europe.

The Deakin Edge has its advantages and disadvantages. Because it is basically a glass box in the middle of a public square, the recital was marred by the noise of outdoor amplified music that bled in from the various bars and restaurants surrounding the venue. As well, the thunder of helicopters above was more or less a constant. But as I sat pondering the exquisite subtleties of this very fine Art in sound while surveying the gum trees along the Yarra that have been there forever and seagulls flying up river at dusk as they have done for ages past, I admit to being pretty close to Il Paradiso regardless.

A more comprehensive printed program with fuller annotations, biographies of the musicians and authors of texts etc would have been appreciated.