The Song Company’s vigorous revival continues with yet another very imaginative program, executed almost flawlessly, showcasing (broadly speaking) the madrigal form.

Arranged around love and the four seasons of the year, the program exposes the contrasting works of Monteverdi, Gesualdo and Strozzi, then proceeds to contrast these Italian baroque composers with modern British composers Howard Skempton, Healey Willan, Jonathan Dove and Kim Porter.

This approach is the brainchild of visiting Program Director (and Baritone) Eamonn Dougan, who, as Associate Conductor of The Sixteen, couldn’t be more eminently qualified to steward The Song Company through this cleverly assembled but demanding collection of 19 songs. Performing without a break for 80 minutes, the group was accompanied in several works by Tommie Andersson on his magnificent theorbo (the 14-string giant of the lute family).

The Song Company: Love’s Four Seasons. Photo © Dalice Trost

With the temperature outside Canberra’s Wesley Music Centre hovering around three degrees on this occasion, the group optimistically kicked off with the four works dedicated to love in Spring. Monteverdi’s Sfogava con le stella (Crying to the stars) set a reasonably conventional baroque tone. Visiting young English singer Tom Herring’s slight...