A.Falconieri : La Suave Melodia -Gallarda, Rinen, Sua Corrente, etc / Massimo Lonardi(arciuliuto), Matteo Mela(baroque guitar), Lorenzo Micheli(theorbo)

The booklet for this disc of music connected with the Italian lutenist-composer Andrea Falconieri announces an ambitious concept designed to show that "the music of Falconieri is the music of our times," even though Falconieri was active in the seventeenth century. The concept grows from Falconieri's peripatetic life story, which took him all over Europe and seemingly featured abrupt departures from prestigious posts (one chronicle notes dryly that "he fled without saying anything"). Falconieri composed music and compiled collections of intabulated music by other composers of the day. His own music, from the 16 examples included here, seems to have had a certain free-spirited quality, with a few lyrical, madrigal-like pieces interspersed among dances and ground-bass forms. From this evidence lutenist Massimo Lonardi, Baroque guitarist Matteo Mela, and theorbist Lorenzo Micheli build a romantic interpretation of Falconieri's work. It doesn't really hold up, but the attempt is nevertheless worthwhile for several reasons, the first of which is that really passionate performances of Renaissance and early Baroque music are generally preferable to the mechanical ones that dominated the scene for so long. The players perform Falconieri's tablatures with two or sometimes three instruments, creating a big sound and emphasizing the passionate qualities of pieces like Occhietti amati (track 18) and the rollicking rhythms of the popular dances like the Canario (track 7). Furthermore, the approach taken here helps bring the music into focus. The booklet is informative, suggesting actual occasions for which Falconieri's music might have been created; it becomes easier to imagine the lutenist and his music in context. Lutenists were instrumental stars of their day, and Falconieri was not the only one capable of crossing the lines of national style into which lute recordings are often organized. The sound is superb, with an intimate but not noisy ambiance. Though its conclusions may be a bit overstated, if nothing is ventured, nothing is gained: this is an attractive and forward-looking recording of lute music.