Jean-louis Matinier / Marco Ambrosini: Inventio

Martinier/Ambrosini Jean Louis Matinier accordion Marco Ambrosini nyckelharpa Wiosna Tasteggiata Basse Dance Szybko Presto from Sonata g-minor (BWV 1001) Inventio 4 (BWV 775) Taïga Qui Est Homo Praeludium from Rosary Sonata No. 1 Oksu Hommage Kochanie Moje Balinese Tasteggiata 2 Siciliènne Recorded April 2013

Inventio is an inventive project at all levels, beginning with the instrumentation. Marco Ambrosini is one of very few musicians playing nyckelharpa outside the Swedish folk tradition, and Jean-Louis Matinier has similarly taken the accordion beyond any ‘folkloric’ frame of reference. On the present disc, the French-Italian duo plays a programme inspired by the baroque sonatas of Bach and Biber but also by the lyrical cadences of Pergolesi. They adapt and arrange works of each of these masters, and contribute compositions of their own. Following a path from ancient to modern music, they improvise together, finding new sound-colour combinations in the special blending of their instruments. Inventio is a recording that will delight listeners who have appreciated Matinier’s ECM recordings with Anouar Brahem, François Couturier’s Tarkovsky Quartet, and Louis Sclavis, as well as Ambrosini’s discs with Rolf Lislevand, Giovanna Pessi/Susanna Wallumrød and Helena Tulve. (And it has the potential to speak to a still broader audience: concerts with this music will follow in Autumn 2014.) Inventio was recorded at the Auditorio Radiotelevisione svizzera studio in in Lugano, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Price: $16.98