“AY AMOR!” Newberry Consort with Marion Verbruggen,...

“AY AMOR!” Newberry Consort with Marion Verbruggen, recorder; Stephen Stubbs, guitar and lute; Andrew Lawrence-King, harp. Harmonia Mundi HMU 907022 (compact disc). This disc features important and lively 17th-Century Spanish theater music by Juan Hidalgo, spiced with instrumental works by Bartolome de Selma y Salaverde and Andrea Falconiero. The scenes from the path-breaking opera “Celos aun del aire matan” and the zarzuela “Los celos hacen estrellas” are more striking in the earthier portions than the skilled imitations of Italian styles, but all have dramatic point. The lithe performances, directed by Mary Springfels and headed by the clear, nimble mezzo of Judith Malafronte, do ample re-creative justice to the material.