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All'Improvviso...ok, there'll be improvisation then. But it also means suddenly in Italian, and there's an immediacy and freshness here that grabs you right from the first few bars. If you haven't met baroque harpist Christina Pluhar and her group l'Arpeggiata, then it's time you did. They're from the French Alpha labels stable of unusually gifted musicians who work in that grey area where art music meets folk, and here they're exploring the simple repeated basslines and harmonies that have formed the basis for all kinds of music, in every continent, from the earliest dance music, through folk, classical, romantic and contemporary art music, jazz, and of course pop and rock. 'Chaconnes, Bergamascas and a little bit of madness' is the CD's subtitle; the chaconne which seems to have come from 16th century Peru to the height of baroque sophistication; the bergamasca from Bergamo in 16th century Italy (still found in traditional Italian music), and the madness folia a crazy dance style that spread from Portugal through Spain and Italy, and into the music of the royal courts of Europe.
L'Arpeggiata's way of improvising on these ground basses and repeated harmonic patterns is deliciously entertaining. Sources range from 17th century chaconnes to the first track - a new song by Lucilla Galeazzi, and from the moment she starts singing about the beautiful house she wants, filled with tears and laughter, music and poetry, I was hooked. Marco Beasley's voice is just as naturally communicative, and Gianluigi Trovesi's pungent clarinet solos almost swing us into jazz. Add to that the toe-tapping continuo on baroque guitars, harp, lute and theorbo, some sparkling cornet-playing and lively strings, and you have crossover of the highest quality, from performers who recognise no boundaries in 400 years of music. Magical results, from the meanest ingredients, and it ought to be available on prescription to the clinically depressed. --Andrew McGregor
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
First play through this superb album gave me feeling of disorientation; where in the world musically temporally and geographically was I? jazz, classical, song, instrumental, South American, Spanish, Italian, German etc all go into the mix - and its a true mix that has produced unalloyed listening pleasure. There are several songs, and the first track Voglio una Casa both makes a statement and also tantalises with a taste of what is to come. The tune is inspired by an old Sardinian folk song, using a typical Sardinian ostinato bass similar to the tarentallas of southern Italy. Add in a baroque harp, Psalterion, lirone and two baroque guitars and the song drives along and at the end a brief tantalising improvisation with Trovesi on clarinette piccolo. There are other songs, all very different, but a good number of tracks are just great improvisations, with a range of styles and textures - violin, cello, cornet, clarinette, baroque harp etc etc all underpinned by the ostinato bass. I have the tunes rattling around my head despite some heavy duty classical listening. This album must have been as much fun to create as it is to listen to, the musicians seem to really work off each other. If you prefer the recommendations of professionals, two "Gramaphone" reviewers in an article in December said they would give this cd as an xmas present to a friend. Christine in the sleeve notes asks if we have the right to try to bridge two styles of music - the cd gives the very affirmative answer, and my question back to her is when is the next Arpeggiata album out?
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Having caught this on a CD review one Saturday morning on Radio 3, I was immediately captured by this music that evidently came from the Pre-Baroque period yet featured a clarinetist with genuine jazz sensibilities. It was little surprise when I later discovered that the musician in question was Italian Jazz Legend Gianluigi Trovesi.
Although based upon simple harmonic sequences, this music offers ample oppurtunity for improvisation and the whole disc comes across like a well managed 16th Century jam session. Alot of research has gone into reconstructing this material and the extensive and thorough liner notes explain the origins of the music and how it has been arranged. (This makes fascinating reading on it's own.) Featuring a fluctuating group of musicians playing such antiquated instruments such a lyres, psalteries, theorbo and a couple of singers, Christina Pluhar has assembled a unit that injects new life into this forgotten and infectious music.
The sound quality is fantstic - as good as any ECM release and I would expect that fans of the music of that label would be very much attracted to this disc. I cannot agree more with the other reviewers and although I am really a jazz fan with an interest in Classical music, this was also for me one of the best albums of 2004. Often the combination of academia and fusions of different genres can result in a meaningless and boring listening experience. On this disc, Christina Pluhar's group "L'Arpeggiata" has created some very refreshing music. If the opening "Voglia una casa" doesn't get you dancing around the room, nothing will !!
Although based upon simple harmonic sequences, this music offers ample oppurtunity for improvisation and the whole disc comes across like a well managed 16th Century jam session. Alot of research has gone into reconstructing this material and the extensive and thorough liner notes explain the origins of the music and how it has been arranged. (This makes fascinating reading on it's own.) Featuring a fluctuating group of musicians playing such antiquated instruments such a lyres, psalteries, theorbo and a couple of singers, Christina Pluhar has assembled a unit that injects new life into this forgotten and infectious music.
The sound quality is fantstic - as good as any ECM release and I would expect that fans of the music of that label would be very much attracted to this disc. I cannot agree more with the other reviewers and although I am really a jazz fan with an interest in Classical music, this was also for me one of the best albums of 2004. Often the combination of academia and fusions of different genres can result in a meaningless and boring listening experience. On this disc, Christina Pluhar's group "L'Arpeggiata" has created some very refreshing music. If the opening "Voglia una casa" doesn't get you dancing around the room, nothing will !!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
All'Improvviso is a superb "crossover" album, combining early music with jazz, but without the melancholy of the Hilliard-Garbarek endeavours, or the occasionally hysterical versionsof Jacques Loussier and other respectful jazzers. Like the Hilliards & Garbarek, it combines both early music and improvisations composed - if that's the right word - by the musicians playing on the album. However, while many of the improvisations are wholly in the spirit of the originals they embellish, some are in distinctly more modern styles, with a klezmer clarinet taking the biscuit for being anachronistic, alien and perfectly fitting at the same time. Like Ms Pluhar and her ensemble's previous discs on Alpha, Landi's choral works and La Tarantella , this album will transport you. On a magic carpet, rather than clapped-out Routemaster.
A stupendous record. Buy it for everyone you know who has ears.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Another stunner from Alpha
I have a few Alpha productions cds (Bach; Britten: Dowland Nocturne For Lute & Partita 2, Works for Violin & Bass Continuo and others not listed on Amazon) and they are of... Read more
Published 7 months ago by bomble
Light-weight lively "traditional" music
I find this music to be light and lively, its style charming (using "period" acoustic instruments). Good both for listening to while relaxing, and also as company while working. Read more
Published 15 months ago by J.A.Abbott
Outstanding
This is a wonderful album, full of vitality, energy and the sheer pleasure of the music. Baroque with a twist, it's "crossover" but without sounding like an unhappily arranged... Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2007 by L. Spenceley
Just Great!
This is my first crossover CD. There is no way to describe the "elan vitale" almost all of the pieces convey. Read more
Published on 3 Oct 2007 by A. Alexakis
Crossover?...more correctly, expansion.
I am an avid BBC3 listener and try to keep up with new releases. Rarely do I have my eyebrows lifted in pleasure but this album satisfies in a strange compelling and original way. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2005 by Keith
Wow - what a find
Loving this. Absolutely adoring it.
I know very little about classical music and am one of those people who occasionally tunes into Radio 3 for some of the stranger stuff and... Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2005 by doublegone
Wonderful
This is without doubt one of my records of the year.
The mixture of early music and jazz improvisations might sound like a recipe for disaster but works and then some. Read more
Published on 29 Oct 2004 by Phil
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