anon.: La Spagna

This beautiful set gathers for the first time Spanish and French instrumental dances from the XVIth and XVIIth Centuries scattered as 'interludes' in many Astrée and Alia Vox existing releases. It is a definitive overview of this repertoire and enables us to realise just how beautiful and irresistible this music can be. Given electric performances and virile repertoire, the Royal Minstrels offer uplifting experiences. Deluxe packaging and beautiful artwork as you would expect from Alia Vox…

Booklet: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Catalan

Margit Kern and Katharina Bäuml were convinced right from the very beginning that this combination of very different instruments would be a new beginning and not just an experiment. Together, they are able to step into Renaissance and early Baroque repertoire and to explore areas with great potential for today’s composers, as this CD demonstrates.

(Arrangements of Sweelinck's works by Margit Kern and Katharina Bäuml)

Setting off on a sonic journey through Europe, Gregorio Paniagua and his acclaimed ensemble Atrium Musicæ de Madrid took the famous theme known as La Spagna, used widely by composers across Europe for several centuries, as the starting point in their quest to bring to life the many and varied old scores that used this themes.

In their recording, the ensemble used a huge range of instruments, from clavicytherium (a ‘vertical harpsichord’) to a simple plastic cup, and the vivid performances and no less vivid recording enchanted both early music fans and audiophiles.

This is the first re-edition of the entire programme from this legendary 1980 recording.

Following his highly successful ECM debut with Nuove Musiche in 2006, the new CD by Norwegian lutenist Rolf Lislevand and his group of international early music virtuosi is an album of melodic beauty and rhythmic energy that transcends the genres and is likely to appeal to listeners from different backgrounds including early music, jazz and ethnic music.

Lislevand is one of the most charismatic figures in today's early music scene and an outstanding lute virtuoso whose vigorous music making is firmly rooted in scholarship. Here are stunning improvisations based on vocal compositions from 16th century Italy: the birth of instrumental virtuosity out of embellished song. His creative and delightful approach to rarely heard repertoire is comparable to Christina Pluhar's work with L’Arpeggiata but is even more original in its concentration on lesser known composers.

Once again putting a strong emphasis on improvisation, Lislevand and his colleagues disclose the astounding modernity and emotional wealth in the music of composers such as Giovanni Antonio Terzi and Joan Ambrosio Dalza. Most of the music stems from the Veneto region of Italy where, at that period, strong influences of oriental and eastern music could be felt. Lislevand's group translates this with a lush scoring for deep instruments, both stringed and plucked, and adds to the line-up two sopranos, Anna Maria Friman and Linn Andrea Fuglesth, from the immensely popular a-cappella group Trio Mediaeval.

The Dufay Collective is one of the most established and successful early music ensembles in the world. Their extensive international touring has resulted in sell-out performances throughout Europe, the Americas, Australasia and the Middle East. Their award-winning discography has garnered critical acclaim and popular enthusiasm alike. The Dufay Collective has made numerous film, television and radio appearances. Their presentations are informative and innovative, recreating the rich variety of the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Cancionero, which was nominated for a Grammy Award, explores courtly music from Spain at the end of the 15th century. The romantic villancicos and spicy instrumental numbers count among today’s most compelling and popular styles of early music.