The Pastimes of theVilla in Each Season, Venice 1601

The collection of madrigals \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\”I Diporti della villa in ogni stagione” (The Pastimes of the villa in each season), consists of poems that are chained like episodes of a story marked by the seasons, like details of a larger fresco praising the pleasures of life in the countryside in the alternation of the different moments of the year and illustrating, in a succession of lively images, the occupations and amusements to which those who live far from the urban glamour dedicate themselves in the various months. Fields, rivers, flowers, trees, a varied fauna, shepherds, farmers, wine, fruits, fishing, hunting, bathing, dancing of the nymphs appearing, as it were before the eyes of the listeners: a colourful world full of that idyllic beauty longed for by intellectuals, in which echoes of the Arcadian world are felt, as already exalted in the Trionfo di Dori [Tactus, TC590003] and inmany othermadrigal productions of the time. Tony Corradini leads the Àrsi & Tèsi Vocal Ensemble in the performance of the madrigals dedicated to the seasons, set to music by some of the greatest composers of the Renaissance era.