Rolf Lislevand - Diminuito (renaissance music)

Rolf Lislevand - Diminuito
ECM New Series 2088 / 4763317
Recorded 2007-2008, CD released 2009

Vincenzo Capriola (1474-1548) - Ricercata prima
Joan Ambrosio Dalza (c.1480-c.1533) - Saltarello
Joan Ambrosio Dalza (c.1480-c.1533) - Piva
Giovanni Antionio Terzi (c.1560-c.1620) - Petit Jacquet
Diego Ortiz (c.1510-70) - Quinta pars
Anon. (Spanish renaissance) - La perra morra
Giovanni Antionio Terzi (c.1560-c.1620) - Susanne un jour
Diego Ortiz (c.1510-70) - Ricercada settima
Francesco da Milano (1497-1543) - Canon, La Spagnia
Thomas Robinson (c.1560-a.1609) - Passamezzo galliard
Alonso Mudarra (1510-80) - Fantasia que contrahaze la harpa en la manera de Ludovico
Giovanni Antionio Terzi (c.1560-c.1620) - Vestiva i colli
Diego Ortiz (c.1510-70) - Recercada quinta
Anon. (old French chanson à boire) - Tourdion


Instruments: Lutes, vihuela de mano, triple harp, nyckelharpa, chitarra battente, clavichord, organ, percussion, colascione (long-necked lute used particularly in southern Italy), voice


Recorded in the spacious acoustics of St. Gerold's Church in the Vorarlberg region of Austria, "Diminuito" is devoted to madrigals, chansons and virtuoso lute music of the Renaissance, offering what might be called the 'backstory' to the nuove musiche around 1600, once again from the vantage point of the solo plucked string instrument.

Most of the music stems from the Veneto region of Italy where, at that period, strong influences of oriental and eastern music could be felt. Lislevand’s group translates this with a lush scoring for deep instruments, both stringed and plucked. The album title "Diminuito" refers to the praxis of virtuosic ornamentation of vocal lines, the 'diminution' of larger rhythmic and harmonic units.

Lislevand, born in Oslo in 1961, has been professor of lute and historical performance practice at the Trossingen School of Music since 1993.
He studied classical guitar at Norway's State Academy of Music, after which he studied with Hopkinson Smith and Eugène Dubois at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. In the late 1980s he joined Jordi Savall's groups Hespèrion XX, La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Concert des Nations. He has received many international awards for his solo recordings.