Search - Jacques Arcadelt, Fillippo Azzaiolo, Francesco (da Milano) Canova :: Music of the Italian Renaissance

Just listen to the samples

01/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Shirley Rumsey is such a gifted singer and musician. Each piece is so hauntingly beautiful. I find it amazing that someone with this much talent isn't better known. Oh well, if you are tired of the crap that is passing for music these days, just buy this cd and turn off the radio."

This is a MUST BUY for frottola freaks.

Dr. Marion G. Ceruti | San Diego, CA United States | 01/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ms. Rumsey is not a singer AND a musician. (Singers are musicians, thank you.) She is a musician of extreme talent and expertise in singing and playing multiple instruments. She really understands this genre and she is the number one musician who plays and sings frottole simultaneously. Ms Kirkby sings well but does not play an instrument while singing. Mr. O'Dette plays well but does not sing. As a musician who has recorded serveral frottole, I can tell you that what Ms. Rumsey does is not easy, but she makes it sound easy and lovely. Dr. M.G. Ceruiti, mezzosoprano, guitar, mandolin"

A Good Program

Percy Smogg | Tulsa, OK USA | 01/03/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The main strength of this recording is the overall program. The selection of pieces, the order in which they are played, and the musical interpretation here make for a good recital. The interpretations I think are a little different than what is typical giving the listener a new perspective on some of these pieces. For example, one usually hears a Dalza Piva as a fairly driving dance piece; but on this recording the Piva is presented as a quietly sweet piece, and it works. Other than some unique, but tasteful interpretation, there is nothing especially outstanding about the performance here, good or bad. There are singers, such as Emma Kirkby, that have given early music vocal performances vastly superior to anything here; and there are lute players running around that can play Ms. Rumsey right into the ground. But this recording, taken as a whole, is enjoyable, bears up well to repeat listening, and is an excellent value."