La Venexiana (founded 1995) is an Italian early music ensemble founded and led by Claudio Cavina, an Italian

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a s ...

and conductor. Cavina studied in Bologna with the American singer and musicologist

Candace Smith Candace Elizabeth Smith (born February 1, 1977) is an American lawyer, actress, television personality, life coach, and author from Dayton, Ohio. Early life and education Smith was born in Dayton, Ohio and is a graduate of Chaminade Julienne Hig ...

, and then with the Swiss baritone Kurt Widmer and Belgian countertenor and conductor

René Jacobs René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera. Biography Countertenor Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...

at the

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that have ...

, then appeared regularly as a countertenor soloist and in choral works. La Venexiana, taking its name from an anonymous comedy ''

La Venexiana La Venexiana (founded 1995) is an Italian early music ensemble founded and led by Claudio Cavina, an Italian countertenor and conductor. Cavina studied in Bologna with the American singer and musicologist Candace Smith (singer), Candace Smith, and ...

'' ("The Venetian Girl", c.1537), was created to focus on the core four- and five-voice

madrigal A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number o ...

repertory of

Sigismondo d'India Sigismondo d'India (c. 1582 – before 19 April 1629) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was one of the most accomplished contemporaries of Monteverdi, and wrote music in many of the same forms as the more ...

Luzzasco Luzzaschi Luzzasco Luzzaschi (c. 1545 – 10 September 1607) was an Italian composer, organist, and teacher of the late Renaissance. He was born and died in Ferrara, and despite evidence of travels to Rome it is assumed that Luzzaschi spent the majority o ...

Luca Marenzio Luca Marenzio (also Marentio; October 18, 1553 or 1554 – August 22, 1599) was an Italian composer and singer of the late Renaissance. He was one of the most renowned composers of madrigals, and wrote some of the most famous examples of the fo ...

Barbara Strozzi Barbara Strozzi (also called Barbara Valle; baptised 6 August 1619 – 11 November 1677) was an Italian composer and singer of the Baroque Period. During her lifetime, Strozzi published eight volumes of her own music, and had more secular ...

Gesualdo da Venosa Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa ( – 8 September 1613) was Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza. As a composer he is known for writing madrigals and pieces of sacred music that use a chromatic language not heard again until the late 19th century. ...

, and

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

. The ensemble has later broadened to be the base of Cavina's productions and recordings of operas by Monteverdi and

Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque music, Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverd ...

. With Cavina's increasing focus on opera, members of the ensemble have concurrently formed

La Compagnia del Madrigale La Compagnia del Madrigale is an Italian virtuoso early music vocal ensemble specializing in the Italian madrigal. The ensemble includes several members of La Venexiana and has continued that ensemble's Gesualdo recordings on Glossa Records. The en ...

which has continued the Gesualdo series on the Glossa label.

Discography

* 1992 – Luzzasco Luzzaschi: Concerto delle Dame * 1996 – Marcello: Arias and Duets * 1997 – Barbara Strozzi: Primo Libra de' Madrigali (1644) * 1998 – Amori e Ombre: Duets and Catatas * 1999 – Handel: The 10 Italian Duets * 1999 – Claudio Monteverdi, Luca Morenzio, Sigismondo D'India, Luzzasco Luzzaschi: Madrigali * 1999 – Monteverdi: Settimo Libro di Madrigali * 1999 – Luzzaschi: Quinto Libro de' Madrigali * 1999 – Marenzio: Ninth Book of Madrigals * 1999 – Sigismondo d'India: Terzo Libro de Madrigali * 2001 – Sigismondo d'India: Primo Libro de Madrigali * 2001 – Marenzio: Il Sesto Libro de Madrigali * 2002 – Monteverdi: Terzo Libro * 2003 – Giaches de Wert: La Gerusalemme Liberata * 2003 – La Venexiana Live! Madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi * 2004 – Monteverdi: Quarto Libro dei Madrigali * 2004 – Monteverdi: Secondo Libro dei Madrigali (1590) * 2005 – Gesualdo: Quinto Libro di Madrigali (1611) * 2005 – Monteverdi: Sesto Libro dei Madrigali (1614) * 2005 – Monteverdi: Ottavo Libra dei Madrigali: Madrigali Geurrieri et Amorosi * 2006 – Gesualdo: Quarto libro de Madrigali * 2007 – Monteverdi: L'Orfeo * 2007 – Monteverdi: Quinto Libro dei Madrigali * 2008 – Monteverdi: Libri dei Madrigali, Books 1 and 9 * 2008 – Monteverdi: Terzo Libro dei Madrigali * 2008 – Monteverdi:

Selva morale e spirituale ''Selva morale e spirituale'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 252–288) is the short title of a collection of sacred music by the Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi, published in Venice in 1640 and 1641. The title translates to "Moral and Spiritual F ...

* 2009 – Monteverdi: Scherzi Musicali * 2010 – Monteverdi: Il Nerone, ossia

L'incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' ( SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni ...

* 2011 – 'Round M: Monteverdi Meets Jazz * 2011 – Cavalli: Artemisia * 2011 – Luzzaschi – Concerto della Dame * 2012 – Monteverdi:

Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria ''Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 325, ''The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland'') is an List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera consisting of a prologue and five acts (later revised to three), set by Claudio Montever ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venexiana Early music groups