Goldberg nr. 51 (April 2008)

5 STARS       

The keyless, wooden Renaissance transverse flute's gentle, flexible and yet also penetrating and tangy sound is sometimes heard in mixed wind and string band recordings; but I believe this is almost the only Renaissance flute consort CD since Nancy Hadden and colleages' »Flute Music of the 16th and 17th centuries«, recorded in 1988 (Hyperion, CDA66298). The Attaignant Consort's Kate Clarke, Frédérique Chauvet (replaced in some pieces by Matthieu Langlois), Marion Moonen and Marcello Gatti, playing in various formations on descant, alto, tenor and bass traversos modelled on a set by an anonymous 16th-century maker in the Academia Filarmonica in Verona, do not stray outside the 16th century, at least stylistically. Their alluring programme of arrangements and transcriptions for two, three and four flutes of mostly familiar songs, motets and dances from France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Germany and England includes composers such as Josquin, Isaac, Obrecht, Janequin, Sermisy, Sandrin (Doulce memoire, of course), de Rore (Rognoni's divisions on Anchor che col partire), Lassus and Dowland. This alone makes this a »must have« CD for any Renaissance music fan. But it is the matchless performances that make it truly unbeatable. Moreover, Marta Graziolino on double harp and Nigel North on lute guard against the remote risk of »flute fatigue« by participating in several consort pieces, occasionally joining one of the flutes for a duet (such as Bassano's virtuoso divisions on Clemens non Papa's Frais et gaillard and Jacob van Eyck's no less difficult Lachrimae Pavan diminutions) as well as contributing some superbly rendered solos.

Christopher Price