The musical life of Lodovico da Viadana (1564-1627) began in Matua, where he was appointed chapel master of the cathedral on January 7, 1594.

After giving up this position (probably in 1597), he moved to Venice (mainly to supervise the printing of his works), to Rome (where he is said to have developed the concept and function of the basso continuo), to Padua, Cremona (where he held the position of chapel master in the monastery of S. Luca from 1602), Concordia (where he remained until 1609) and finally to Fano, where he remained as chapel master until March 1612.

He later continued his compositional activities in his home town of Viadana (part of the Duchy of Mantua) and the surrounding area. He died in Gualtieri in 1627.

This album presents some of his sacred concertos. Among those of his opus 12 (1602, Venice) is a series of compositions (which he called concertos) for the unusual forces of tenor and basso continuo. The stylus gravis used by the composer often alternates with more lively passages that emphasize the meaning and liturgical pathos of the text.

Viadana's concertos are complemented by five of the 19 Canzoni da sonare a quattro & otto voci by his Brescian contemporary Floriano Canale (1541-1616) from Canale's First Book of Clavier Canzonas (Venice, 1600).

Finally, there is a motet by Viadana, which calls for a performance on solo cornett with basso continuo.

Further information:
Recorded in November 2023 in Mantua, Italy.
The bilingual booklet in English and Italian contains liner notes by Federico del Sordo, profiles of him, the tenor and the ensemble as well as the Latin vocal texts with English translations.

Lodovico da Viadana (1560-1627) was an Italian composer, teacher and member of the Franciscan order of noble birth who held important posts as maestro di cappella in Mantua, Venice, Rome, Cremona, Padua and Viadana.

This recording presents motets on liturgical texts for the unusual combination of tenor voice and basso continuo. The stylus gravis used by Viadana often alternates with livelier passages that emphasize the meaning and liturgical pathos of the text. All these short musical images are - as the author himself says - characterized by a penetrating sweetness and gentleness.

The Viadana motets are alternated with instrumental canzonas by Floriano Canale (1541-1616), a contemporary composer of Viadana from Brescia.

The Italian tenor Angelo Goffredi studied singing at the Arrigo Boito Conservatory in Parma alongside his university studies in materials science (PhD). He has performed over twenty roles in Italian and European theaters under the direction of musicians such as Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Placido Domingo and Claudio Scimone.

He has also ventured into pop music and won the Lucio Dalla Prize at the prestigious Sanremo Song Festival in 2022 with the CD The Soul Voice. His current repertoire ranges from Renaissance music to Mozart and Romantic music. The Il Narvalo Ensemble, founded by Federico Del Sordo, has recorded works by Juan Francés de Iribarren (95859), Psalms 42 and 50 by Benedetto Marcello (96135) and sacred music by Daniel Dal Barba (96189) for Brilliant Classics.