From the Label
Born in Oslo in 1961, Rolf Lislevand is a virtuoso of the lute and Baroque guitar: the beautifully recorded, programmed and packaged
Nuove Musiche (New Music) is his first release on ECM. A highly regarded practitioner, Lislevand has been professor of lute and historical performance at Trossingen Musikhochschule since 1993. He has a particular take on his subject: namely, that todays performers of early music--the origins of the material on this release lie in seventeenth-century Italy and Spain--should build on the quality of freshness of extemporisation, or improvisation, which originally distinguished much of that music. So its not surprising that, together with the sounds of harp and clavichord, organ and Baroque guitar, the diversely layered and refreshingly conceived soundscapes conjured by Lislevands seven-piece group include the bass lines of Bjørn Kjellemyr, the excellent Norwegian improviser who will be familiar to many ECM enthusiasts through his work with guitarist Terje Rypdal. Tracks like "Passacaglia cantata" and "Corrente" swing in the most subtle and engaging manner: fresh points of contact, sometimes Celtic in nature, are developed between the elegantly turned frameworks of the original pieces by Kapsberger, Pellegrini, Frescobaldi and others and a good deal of the breadth and depth of musical and poetic resource one associates with todays musical climate. At times, one senses distant echoes of the reverie-rich world of guitarist Ralph Towner; at other moments, the spirit of a contemporary flamenco master like Vicente Amigo seems to enter the music, as in the two driving "Passacaglia andaluz" pieces especially. Arianna Savalls pure and sparely employed soprano voice brings an extra, haunting dimension to several tracks, while Pedro Estevans delicate yet purposeful percussion is a delight throughout. Just over a decade ago, ECM released
Officium, the million-plus seller which melded the early music vocal polyphony of the Hilliard Ensemble with the improvisations of saxophonist Jan Garbarek. To my ears, the soulful, intelligently conceived and superbly interpreted
Nuove Musichewhich comes complete with an extensive and illuminating sleevenote by Lislevand merits comparable success. Take a time-trip back to a future that is now: you wont regret it. --
Michael Tucker