Search - Christina Pluhar :: All'Improvviso

A gorgeous album!

Buck Bauer | ELDERSBURG, MD USA | 11/18/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, a few words about the ensemble, L'Arpeggiata, from their "myspace" page:



"Arpeggiata is a baroque music ensemble directed by the harpist and lute player Christina Pluhar [pictured on the cover]. Its members are today's finest instrumentalists and in addition they work with the most exceptional singers from the Baroque and the traditional music worlds.



"Arpeggiata's work and philosophy is based on improvisations on the music of the 17th century, a rich sound texture by blending all colours of various plucked instruments from the baroque period, a vocal interpretation influenced by traditional Italian music."



Stringed instruments plucked, strummed, bowed, and hammered, they're all there, and wind instruments sometimes appear. On this album, the featured wind instruments are the clarinet, and the cornetto or Zink, with its trumpet-like sound. Both are played with great effect. Two solo vocalist are also featured.



This album, recorded in 2004, was my favorite album until their "Los Impossibles" came out two years later, in 2006. Now my favorite is whichever one I'm listening to at the time. It's too bad there are no sample tracks from "All'Imrovviso" that you can listen too, but there =are= such tracks with "Los Impossibles." Go there and listen to them. You'll learn more about the ensemble and the music than you would from any written description. Buy both albums now, and you won't regret it!



From the program notes, in French, with my clarifications.



The ensemble: L'Arpeggiata

Their director: Christina Pluhar

The vocalists: Lucia Galeazzi, Marco Beasley



Instruments played on this album include:

:: Plucked strings ::

archiluth [archlute]

chitarra battente

colascione

guitare baroque

harpe baroque

luth renaissance

psalterion [hammered dulcimer]

psalterion [hackbrett]

theorbe [theorbo]

:: Bowed strings ::

basse de violon "a la [viola] bastarda"

contrebasse

lirone

viole

violon baroque [violone]

violoncelle piccolo

:: Winds ::

clarinette alto

clarinette piccolo

cornet a bouquin [cornett, cornetto, zink]"

All'Improvviso

Catherine of OZ | 09/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a joyous, inovative delight and the musicians' crisp, playful rendering of the pieces from the Middle Ages makes me feel extraordinarily happy whenever I listen to it. The CD notes are excellent - informative and with several photos of the group. I'm about to purchase a copy for my daughter, who has been lucky enough to attend one of their performances in Australia."