Musica Rilassante

Alonso Mudarra - Música de Vihuela III: Tres Libros de Música en Cifras para Vihuela
DbPowerAmp secure mode FLAC (tracks+log, no cue) + MP3 (320 kbps CBR) | 304.02 Mb (FLAC) + 159.11 Mb (MP3) | 65:05 minutes | Full info & covers.
classical, renaissance, vihuela | Auvidis-Astrée Records, Recorded at the Roman Church of Saint Lambert in November 1991. Cd published in 1996

The “Vihuela de mano” is a somewhat mysterious instrument. It evolved in Spain alongside the lute which it replaced at the begining of the 16th century and from which it differed in its guitar-like flat back and waisted shape. Alonso de Mudarra was a sixteenth century Spanish composer and vihuelist known for his songs and his numerous innovations in the field of instrumental music. He lived in relative luxury throughout his life. His upbringing and education were in the ducal household in Guadalajara. Duke Iñigo López de Mendoza (1493-1566), a highly cultured man and fine lutenist, may have been a mentor to the young de Mudarra, influencing him toward study of the vihuela...

This is beautiful music, based on classical sounds but with a modern flare…

If you like your Baroque music loud and luscious, then this is the disc for you. When you play it first, be aware that the two introductory pieces are not as loud as the later ones, so set your volume low to start off with!
McCreesh, Goebel and their crew have recreated the full pomp and atmosphere of the time (as far as we can tell). The recording is well-defined and, perhaps surprisingly, for a work of this scale, it does not deteriorate into a miasmic wash of sound. The directionality is very good, even on "ordinary" two-channel stereo.

Comprised of vocalist Petra Magoni and bassist Ferruccio Spinetti, Musica Nuda are an Italian vocal jazz-pop duo whose popularity carried over to neighboring countries, especially France, during the mid-2000s. Born in Pisa, Tuscany, on July 28, 1972, Magoni studied music at the Conservatory of Leghorn and at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Milan. A versatile singer, she performed opera at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa early in her career while at the same time fronting a local rock group, Senza Freni. Petra Magoni (1996) marked her full-length solo album debut and was followed by a second solo album, Mulini a Vento (1997). She subsequently adopted the moniker Sweet Anima and released an eponymous album of English-language songs written by Lucio Battisti in 2000. In addition, she collaborated with Giampaolo Antoni in the electro-pop duo Aromatic, which resulted in the album Still Alive (2004). Most successful among her recording ventures, however, was Musica Nuda, a vocal jazz-pop collaboration with Piccola Orchestra Avion Travel bassist Ferruccio Spinetti that made its critically acclaimed eponymous album debut in 2004.

Oltre ad essere un’interprete di livello, la cantante Maria Pia De Vito ha al suo attivo progetti sempre interessanti e originali. Ricordiamo Il Pergolese, omaggio jazz alla musica del compositore settecentesco, e il recente Coraçao dedicato alla musica brasiliana con i testi tradotti in napoletano (ne abbiamo parlato in occasione di Umbria Jazz Winter 2017/18). Stavolta la musicista recupera la forma della moresca, antica danza di origine araba con i testi generalmente di carattere grottesco. Nella Napoli, città di origine della solista, questa forma fu molto popolare: uno degli artefici della sua riscoperta in tempi moderni è stato Roberto De Simone che l’ha inserita nella sua Gatta Cenerentola, ma al tempo stesso vari gruppi vocali (King’s Singers e Orlando Consort) la propongono nel loro repertorio.