(fr2) Cash Investigation Diesel : La Dangereuse Exception Française (2015)

A classic of The Royal Ballet, La Fille mal gardée was an immediate hit with the British public. Choreographed by Frederick Ashton in 1960, it is a highly lyrical and technically demanding take on the simple tale of ‘love prevailing’ which underpins this charming story. It was created by French ballet master Jean Dauberval and was first danced in 1789. This 2015 revival is a ‘company triumph’ (Independent), with principals Natalia Osipova and Steven McRae creating terrific onstage chemistry and delivering outstanding solo performances – Osipova as a ‘perky and gamine Lise’ with ‘pin-drop precise’ phrasing (Guardian), and McRae an instantly likeable, playful Colas whose physical articulation is ‘particularly Ashtonian’ in quality (Daily Telegraph). They are joined by Philip Mosley as Widow Simone, who brings ‘music-hall gusto’ (Independent) to the famous clog dance of Act I.

The importance of the musician Bernardo Pasquini is well known to all those who dedicate themselves to the study of the harpsichord or organ. They frequently encounter his compositions, which are of such fundamental importance for the development of late-baroque Italian music for keyboard instruments. His vocal music, on the other hand, consisting primarily of cantatas, operas and oratorios, is far less known. But it includes true gems of vocal art from the late Roman Seicento.

Battles' John Stanier, Ian Williams, and Dave Konopka always sound psyched to play together, but never more so than on their first entirely instrumental album, La Di Da Di. While vocals – first provided by Tyondai Braxton on their early work and by a host of collaborators on 2011's Gloss Drop – might have seemed necessary to humanize their experimentation, they're not missed on the band's third full-length. If anything, removing them gives the trio's ideas to generate sparks the way they did on Mirrored (particularly on "Tricentennial," which recalls the mischievous alien anthems of their debut) while keeping Gloss Drop's immediacy. Battles' mix of muscular drums and riffs and heady melodies and electronics has never sounded so liberated, whether on "The Yabba," a thrilling seven-minute excursion that sounds more like seven one-minute songs strung together, or on the relatively serene "Luu Le," which uses the same amount of time to close the album with a sun-dappled suite. Here and throughout La Di Da Di, the band sounds mercurial but not chaotic, with an interplay that ebbs and flows like creativity itself.

“Laurent Pelly's production of Donizetti's opéra comique was one of the highlights of the Royal Opera's 2006-7 season, and viewing this well-produced DVD of the show it's perfectly obvious why. Natalie Dessay's skinny tomboy of a Marie combines a 110 per cent commitment to the physicality of her acting with a coloratura facility that is beyond criticism.” BBC Music Magazine.

Formed in Florence in 1964 with a line-up which included brothers Ugo and Raffaele Ponticiello along with bassist Giuliano Giunti and drummer Ubaldo Palanti (later replaced by Mauro Sarti, who also played with Campo di Marte and Bella Band), Spettri releases some singles in 1966-67, evolving then from the intial beat style to a rock sound with hard influences. Drummer Giorgio Di Ruvo joined them in 1968 and the line-up was enriched by organist Stefano Meloni in 1970 and bass player Vincenzo Ponticiello in 1971. The group's live repertoire was made of covers by the likes of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Spirit, but they began composing original material in form of a suite, issued on record for the first time only in 2011 and often played at the time in their concerts held in Tuscany and Lazio…

While this first recording of 32 of Costanzo Festa’s 125 variations on the popular cantus firmus melody La Spagna is expertly performed and sounds terrific, this definitely is a disc that will appeal primarily to specialists and other devotees of 16th-century instrumental music. Listeners who appreciate such things will be fascinated with Festa’s imaginative and highly skilled treatment of the 37-note “theme”, which he preserves intact throughout each of his contrapunti, which employ varying numbers of parts, from three to 11. The latter, Contrapunto 125, which is “the last variation of the manuscript”, is grand and richly harmonious and Paul Van Nevel’s choice of instruments fully exploits these attributes.