Concerto Italiano has an impressive reputation for their acclaimed performances of the works of Claudio Monteverdi. Last year, audiences in Melbourne and Sydney were buoyed by their performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers. Thus, I expected a high level of musicianship, diction and attention to the finer aspects of Baroque performance practice and aesthetics – and I was not disappointed.

^{Concerto Italiano. Photos © Hanwa Group}

For many years, Concerto Italiano has been performing and celebrating Monteverdi’s important contribution to the evolution of opera – L’Orfeo. A work with minimal scene changes and free from staging requirements, it was well-suited to Concerto Italiano’s concert presentation. However, without either a synopsis or a translation of the text available at this Adelaide Festival performance, many in the audience seemed only able to gain a limited understanding of the work and its meaning from the singers’ well-developed body language and movement.

L’Orfeo begins with a virtuosic and elaborate orchestral toccata. From the opening bars, it was immediately obvious that Concerto Italiano is a very talented period instrument ensemble. Intelligence and maturity shone in the preciseness of their playing, thier ability to create such soft dynamics, and in their phrasing...