There is no more tantalising fragment in baroque music than the Lamento di Arianna: this nine-minute scene is all that survives of Monteverdi’s opera L’Arianna. The loss feels all the greater when the despairing piece is sung with such piercing intensity by Roberta Mameli: she provides an object lesson in how vocal precision need not inhibit passionate commitment. Her clarity and response to the texts is exceptional: the first phrase of Caccini’s Dolcissimo sospiro takes the breath away, while Merula’s seductive Folle è ben che si crede is hypnotically alluring. Composers Barbara Strozzi and Andrea Falconieri add richness to the collection, and Luca Pianca’s lute playing is ideally balanced.
