MARCO DALL’AQUILA: Pieces for Lute [TrackList below] – Paul O’Dette, lute – Harmonia mundi 907548, 77:17 ***1/2:
Marco (1480-1544) of the medieval city of L’Aquila was a transitional composer linking the last of the medieval age with the full flowering of the Renaissance, and his style brise trademark (a method of using spaciously-arpeggiated chords to increase resonance) along with his concern for a fuller and more robust tone in general mark him as a man who was probably 100 years ahead of his time from developments that would take place in France. The pieces on this disc are taken from a single collection (Munich Ms. 266) that contains selections from other composers as well. Marco’s music is stylish and always interesting, and there is not a lot of it available, except perhaps from what he published himself in the early 1600s.
O’Dette is outstanding as usual, but something must be said about the resonant acoustics here. This was originally supposed to be recorded in L’Aquila itself until it was hit hard by an earthquake in April 2009. The recording sessions had to be scrapped and moved to the close-by town of Capestrano to the Castello Piccolomini, a beautiful picture of which graces the inside of the booklet. While O’Dette tries to make allowance for the sound in referring to the historical nature of this setting and the fact that Marco may well have known it, the sound is disarming; it sounds like a small instrument being played in a very large space, and will be quite different from most lute recordings you have heard. It is not a showstopper; even an earthquake could not dissuade me from an O’Dette recording; but this is not the first place I would direct listeners to become acquainted with O’Dettte, the lute sound, or both. For Marco though, few choices remain.
TrackList:
ROUSEE:
La Rosée du moys de may
AQUILA:
Ricercars 2-6, 13, 15, 17- 20, 26
La Cara Cossa Nos.1-6, 10, 11
Fantasias 7, 9, 27, 28
Saltarello ‘La Traditora’ Nos.1, 2 & 3
Pioverin
Il Marchese di Saluzzo
Fantasia (28)
Pomo
Pavana
Piva
Tocha tocha la canella
Carnalesca
Donne impresteme il vostro burato da buratare la mia farina
DESPRES:
Plus nulz regretz grans, moyens ne menuz
In te Domine speravi
JANEQUIN:
Pavana ‘La Battaglia’
Nous bergiers
PASSEREAU:
Il est bel et bon
SERMISY:
C’est à grand tort
— Steven Ritter