Gesualdo & Profeti Della Quinta - Mountains (CD)

The vocal ensemble Profeti della Quinta was founded in the Galilee region of Israel by the bass singer and harpsichordist Elam Rotem, and is based in Basel, Switzerland, where it's members undertook further studies of early music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. The ensemble focuses on the vocal repertoire of the 16th and early 17th centuries. From it's core of five male singers, the ensemble collaborates regularly with instrumentalists and additional singers. Profei della Quinta has recorded albums with music by the Jewish-Italian composer Salomone Rossi, Orlando di Lasso, Luzzasco Luzzaschi, and two works composed by Elam Rotem. The Madrigal was the most prominent genre of secular vocal music in the Renaissance and early Baroque. The program of the present release tells the story of the Italian Madrigal. It follows it's evolution from the highly expressive polyphony of Cipriano de Rore, to the revolutionary madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi that shaped the Baroque era.