Dalza: Piva

Frottole, laude, canzone, dances, processional chants & sacred vocal polyphony.

"A hell on earth" Martin Luther is said to have called the city of Rome in connection with his pilgrimage there in 1511. Was he right? 500 years later Concerto Romano reconstruct a kind of 'soundtrack' of his stay with voices and instruments. Starting out from Roman music editions of the time, the repertoire of the city churches and works which were regarded as Appenine 'hits' of the time, which the guest from the North would not have forgotten so easily, Concerto Romano has been able to resurrect the sounds of the Holy City at the time of Luther's visit: the superior sound culture of the Catholic cathedrals and palaces, as well as the earthier sounds of the streets and alleys.

This collection features music from the late Middle Ages using long straight trumpets, shawms, bagpipes and percussion. This type of ensemble came to Europe from the Far and Middle East, along the ancient trade routes. Les Haulz et les Bas is one of Europe’s most active alta capella ensembles. They have given lectures and masterclasses at the Universities of Oxford and London.

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.

In the late 15th century, Italy was divided between the independence of the mighty Venetian Republic and tiny Dukedoms such as Ferrara and Mantua. Music and literature were patronised by the ruling classes as statements of power and local identity. However the most revered European composers were from the north, and their musical style owed little to Italian culture.

In northern Italy an educated classicist, Isabella Marchioness of Mantua, devised the frottola where text was set to a simple melody following speech rhythms, and accompanied by 2 or 3 instruments. The frottola is a Cinderella of Renaissance song and has suffered in comparison with the English and Italian Madrigal and the French Chanson in the 2oth century revival of interest in Renaissance music.

On Fire and Ice we present frottole taken from a Venetian manuscript, compiled around 1520, to argue the case for a re-evaluation of this repertoire. The collection is notable for the quality of both the poetry and the music. The texts deal frequently with emotional extremes - the “fire and ice” of our title!

Modelled on the court bands of the 16th century, Musica Antiqua is the only group in Great Britain to play on specially commissioned matched sets of viols and recorders, copied from 16th century originals. This CD offers a rare opportunity to hear the very different sound these instruments make compared to their "modern" counterparts from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Doulce Mémoire has been one of the leading ensembles in the Renaissance and Early music fields.They record for Naïve, K 617 and Zig Zag territories. Its recordings have received many awards and distinctions, including Diapason Record of the Year and maximum ratings from Le Monde de la Musique and Télérama.

This set gathers their recordings on Naïve, dedicated to Italian music at the time of the Renaissance, from Naples to the Vatican.