In this recording Luca Pianca explores the enchanting world of 17th-century French music. He introduces the listener to the unique and refined musical style of the Grand Siècle, where the lute and theorbo reigned supreme.

Ennemond Gautier le Vieux, a notable lutenist and composer, left an indelible mark on the French lute tradition of the time. His work laid the groundwork for future musicians, including luminaries like Robert de Visée, who would go on to craft their own musical masterpieces.

The timeless elegance of these compositions perfectly illustrates the glorious musical landscape of 17th-century France.

Booklet: EN, FR, IT

At the beginning of the 17th century, music in Italy underwent a radical change. From the first experimental attempts in Florence to revive the musical practice of Greek antiquity, which had not been handed down in detail, the genre of the monody developed, in which the singer could finally express all the nuances of the text (the “affects”), freed from the strict constraints of polyphony. To accompany this monophonic singing, new types of plucked instruments emerged, such as the archlute and the theorbo, characterised especially by their powerful bass registers and intense resonances. The new expressive demands invited playing with timbres, (de)crescendi and agogics to convincingly portray human passions, elements that were also applied to purely instrumental music, as in the works on this recording. The rigour of polyphony gave way to a style based more on improvisation, an aspect particularly important to Luca Pianca in his interpretation of solo works for archlute and theorbo by Piccinini, Kapsberger, Melli and Raimondo. 

Booklet: EN, FR, DE, IT

The Italian Renaissance is the golden age of the lute. In quality and quantity, the lute pieces from this period are comparable to the piano works of the 19th century. Most of the works selected for this recording are by Francesco da Milano, an extraordinary virtuoso and gifted composer who was also known as “Il Divino” (the Divine), an epithet he shared with Michelangelo and Monteverdi. In addition to lute pieces by da Milano, the recording also includes other equally outstanding works by contemporaries, among them some of the Milanese’s pupils. Thanks to this selection, it is easy to comprehend still today why the lute was considered the noblest instrument of all in the 16th century: Il nobilissimo istromento.

Booklet: EN, FR, DE, IT

Arrigoni, Piccone, and Sammartini use the instrument to the limits of its possibilities. Obviously the Neapolitans partook in this development; the Sonata by Gervasio in this recording testifies to the spectacular skills of these mandolinist-composers with diabolic Allegros and typically Neapolitan nostalgic Largos. 

Galfetti and Pianca started their career as members of il Giardino Armonico, but quickly developed an impressive solo career by them selves. Both artist are highly convincing and seem perfectly at home in this repertoire.

Booklet: EN, FR, IT

Booklet: EN, FR

The title ‘Giants’ refers to the composers presented on this recording who are truly musical Giants. Monteverdi indeed began the baroque era, and Bach brought it to an end 150 years later, and both of them have left us masterpieces of immense artistic value. Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa with his aura as a mad nobleman and as an assassin is without any doubt one of the most interesting and most extreme experimenters in the history of music. His attempts to break away from the formal limits of the madrigal in order to increase expressiveness often borders on a surprising eccentricity.

From a faithful transcription of Bach’s composition for the ‘Lautenwerk’ a kind of hybrid harpsichord with gut strings, into a duet for lute and triple harp to the art of the arranging Monteverdi’s and Gesualdo’s compositions, this recording guarantees a fresh look into this music by means of the surprising sound combination of the lute and the harp.