Monday 31 August 2015

Dall'Aquila - Pieces for Lute - Volta


Rating: 3/5

Review:
Not the greatest music or playing



This is a disc of music from the late 15th and early 16th Centuries.  It was a period of transition for the lute from mediaeval more monophonic pieces to the complexity and multiple lines of the Renaissance.  It is very good to have this available on disc, and some of it is rather lovely, but as a whole disc I have some pretty severe reservations about it.

Firstly, Dall'Aquila was a good composer but not a great one, I think, so a whole disc of his music can get a bit much.  For me, this is one to play a few pieces from and then take a break – a feeling which is intensified by the playing.  It's OK, but I quite often get a sense of strain, as though Sandro Volta were at the very limit of his technique (and occasionally beyond it).  Compared to some of the superb lute recordings available by people like Paul O'Dette, Jakob Lindebrg, Nigel North and others, this is a bit of a struggle to listen to.

It's by no means terrible and Volta deserves considerable credit for making this music available to us, but I can only give this a rather severely qualified recommendation, I'm afraid.

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