Benedetto MARCELLO La Stravaganza
        Opus111 OPS 30-149

Performances are style-conscious without being mannered. Both soprano Rossana Bertini and countertenor Claudio Cavina negotiate the frequent passages of virtuoso writing with technical ease. The latter duet begins with some extraordinarily wide intervals as difficult to place as they are to predict. She copes well with Marcello's exacting demands.
Gramophone, January 1997

L'initiative du nouvel ensemble La Venexiana est donc intéressante. Elle est surtout dans les cantates La Lucrezia et Chiuse in placida quiete chantées par Claudio Cavina, qui sait allier à la virtuosité l'expression nécessaire des affetti, sans maniérismes outranciers.
Répertoire, December 1997

Coté interprètes, le travail du continuo est ici admirable, particulièrement en ce qui concerne les sonorités de Beier à l'archiliut... les deux chanteurs sont techniquement parfaits. Une disque bienvenu.
Diapason, January 1997

Such pieces pose considerable interpretive problems...Fortunately they have in Rossana Bertini and Claudio Cavina (both of whom are members of Concerto Italiano) a pair of singers able to do justice to them, and I cannot praise the accuracy and acute awareness of their singing too highly. The extraordinary cantata Onda d'amaro pianto... while the opening of the duet Cerco ogn'or con la speranza demands of both singers impressive leaps that produce some remarkable sonorities... The continuo parts are expertly managed, as is the finely balanced recording. A treasure of a disc that should be accounted obligatory for anyone interested in vocal chamber music.
Fanfare, January 1997

Un'eloquente antologia del Marcello vocale è offerto dall'ensemble La Venexiana... Sei duetti per soprano e contralto, in cui i due solisti possono splendidamente fondersi insieme, in un colorito intreccio timbrico. Stupende le messe di voce, i dosaggi, le emissioni vocali... grande rilievo viene anche conferito al testo, sempre comprensibile e dominante. Avvincenti le arie solistiche. Voci nel loro genere uniche nello striminzito panorama specialistico italiano, tali da regalare un'esecuzione filologica ma al contempo viva e fascinosa. Come se il passato fosse ancora presente.
CD Classica, March 1997