Concerto Italiano: Monteverdi's Madrigals
Marking their 40th anniversary, the legendary Italian ensemble brings the composer’s extraordinary word-setting and no-holds-barred music and poetry to life.
With his peerless sensitivity of response and unlimited compositional finesse, Claudio Monteverdi’s music sounds as fresh today as it must have done 400 years ago.
His artistry would stop at nothing to wring the maximum emotional expression out of the words that he set.
His fourth book of madrigals (part-songs) are groundbreaking, radical works springing from the heart of the early Italian Baroque.
Here the composer presents settings of the sensuous and impassioned words of such poets as Torquato Tasso and Giovanni Battista Guarini, among others.
Founded by the conductor and harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini, Concerto Italiano is an ensemble that has become inseparable from the music of Monteverdi, winning numerous international awards for its recordings.
The year 2024 marks its 40th anniversary.
Performers
Concerto Italiano
Repertoire
Monteverdi: Madrigals, Bk.4
Need to know
Find out more about the music with our free programme.
View the programme
Reviews
‘Concerto Italiano have taken the combined messages of music and history to heart; these are performances infused with a flexible approach to tempo and strong projection of text’
Gramophone
‘highly dramatic, raunchy storytelling’
The Guardian
For your visit
This event is held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.
Plan your visit
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is home to both our second-largest auditorium and the Purcell Room.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.