I Fagiolini

Rehearsing Croce for the Prom at Dartington, July 2000.

Carnevale Veneziano – The Comic Faces of Giovanni Croce

Two collections of late 16th-century carnival masques by Giovanni Croce with lute trios by Pacoloni and other instrumental interludes.

“To listen to these pieces is a constant reminder of Venice’s squares, public buildings and private places.” Gramophone

Giovanni Croce, maestro at St Mark’s just before Monteverdi, is best known in England for his madrigals and more generally for his motets. As well as working at St Mark’s, he also ran a music group for every occasion, which did not endear him to the Procurators when he came to apply for the job of maestro there. One complained of:

“young persons who have… gone about… like mercenaries, to sing in churches…, celebrations and banquets – frequently carousing at fountains, singing canzonettas with a glass of wine in hand.”

This CD includes his two satirical collections of scurilous ensemble pieces, in which men dress up as schoolboys, women and commedia characters, and games are played in which the guests are auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Mascarata da Lenguazzi
Mascarata eccho dei magnifici
O Gramo Pantalon (Englished)

Notes by DonnaMae J Gustafson on the background to the two Croce publications.

Buy from Amazon or Chandos

Chandos CHAN 0665
Released 2001