The Christmas Vespers of Chiara Margarita Cozzolani (1650)
Tactus 600301 [See also [See also www.tactus.it]
8 voices, basso continuo (organ, theorbo, viola da gamba, harp)
The nuns of the convent of Santa Radegonda in Milan were praised as "le prime cantatrici d’Italia". Chiara Margarita Cozzolani (1605-77ca.), singer and composer, published motets, psalms and "scherzi musicali", and her works appeared in various collections with such illustrious names as Monteverdi, Rovetta and Merula. Her Vespers music for 8 voices were scored (as was much of the music written for and by cloistered nuns) for 2 traditional choirs of soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Cappella Artemisia offers numerous solutions to this thorny problem of performing these sumptuous works with female voices.
A musical find! The wonderfully colorful and sumptuous works which Candace Smith has discovered and for the first time recorded is a small sensation [...]. A must for lovers of Italian baroque music. (Cling Klong)
Cozzolani’s music is up-to-date [...] in which the grand psalms stand apart: now tightly concerted, now leaving room for generous solo sections, in all cases rich with visual allusions. The very "real" voices of the Cappella Artemisia lend evocative transparency to the Gregorian antiphons, demonstrating their skills in the impervious low registers (at times untransposed), precision in virtuosic passages, balance in the polyphonic interweaving, dynamic ability to react to the most difficult situations, and originality in the results [...] They prove themselves to be a new force in the Italian panorama of "ancient music". (Amadeus)
The eight women singers of ensemble Cappella Artemisia have Mediterranean voices in the best possible sense: full-throated and rich, yet refined and ductile. There is neither a poor singer nor unauthentic stylist among them. The amazingly deep and agile contralto is outstanding even in this company [...] The sex and vocation of the composer might attract some attention to this disc, but it is the quality of the music and performances which will endure. (Soundscape, Australia)