Paolo Pandolfo
is one of those rare artists who does not give into the temptation of
establishing a regular and frequent rhythm of making new recordings –
except, in his case, when he feels that he has something really
relevant and new to say. If, in some way, this sets him apart and places
him on the fringes of the record market, it does guarantee on the
other hand a sense of timelessness and durability for his artistic
work. His dazzling virtuosity and a musicality that knows no bounds
transforms him into a true reference marker in an early music world
that grows more predictable by theday.
And now, after
nearly two years of silence, Pandolfo gathers round him a group of
friends in order to create something which has practically been lost
among the performers of “classical” music, victims of a wasting process
that has become almost ingrained: improvisation. Turning back to a tradition which in the 16th and 17th centuries counted upon
practitioners as famous as Diego Ortiz, Christopher Simpson and
Girolamo Della Casa and that continued with significant names such as
Frescobaldi, Corelli, Mozart and Brahms, these musicians unleash their
imagination to regale us with eighty minutes of touching beauty and an
unusual freedom. What we have here is a journey across musical
structures which are mainly late- Renaissance ones, from dance ostinato basses (Pass’e mezzi, Folías, Canarios, Vacas) to the Fantasies for a solo instrument, from improvisations on a cantus firmus (La Spagna) to the alla bastarda style, based on polyphonic compositions (Anchor che col partire, Doulce Memoire)… Truly delightful.
CLASSY!!!
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