In the words of harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, “There are few who can lay claim to have rediscovered an entire art, but Nigel Rogers earned the right to be one of those people who’ve changed musical performance forever. Before him, the true sound of Monteverdi and Cavalli and Cesti and Caccini was impossible to know, and after him, it will never be the same. The word giant is one I’d almost never use for a musician of our time, but he is for sure a giant for all time.”
On this week’s edition of Baroque&Before, we offer an appreciation of Nigel Rogers, the renowned tenor and specialist in baroque, sacred, and early music, who died at age 86 in 2022. Tonight, we’ll hear Nigel Rogers in works by Monteverdi and Dowland.
Recordings for this edition of Baroque&Before come from the WFMT Richard and Mary L. Gray Music Library and courtesy of Oliver Camacho.
Playlist
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
L’Orfeo
– Rosa del ciel; Io non dirò qual sia; Lasciate i monti; Vieni Imeneo
– Vi ricorda, o boschi ombrosi; Mira, deh mira Orfeo
– Ahi caso acerbo; Tu se morta mia vita
– Possente Spirto; Ben mi lusinga alquanto; Ahi sventurato amante; Ei dorme
ARTISTS: Nigel Rogers, Emilia Petrescu, Anna Reynolds, Ian Partridge, James Bowman, John Elwes, Stafford Dean, Alexander Malta; Monteverdi Choir Hamburg; Camerata Accademica Hamburg; Bläserkreis für Alte Musik Hamburg; Jürgen Jürgens, conductor
RECORDING: Monteverdi: L’Orfeo; Archiv 447 703-2
John Dowland (1563-1626)
First Booke of Songes or Ayres
– Come Away; Come, Sweet Love; Come, Heavy Sleep; Wilt thou unkind thus reave me; If my Complaints; My thoughts are wing’d with hopes
ARTISTS: Nigel Rogers, tenor; Paul O’Dette, lute
RECORDING: John Dowland: Songs for tenor and lute; Virgin Classics VC 7 90726-2
