Leonor de Lera; Nacho Laguna; Pablo FitzGerald - Arcadia

Leonor de Lera has chosen the Arcadia described in Greek mythology as a transfigured place in idyllic nature as the title for her new CD. The genre of the pastorale, the Arcadian pastoral idyll, enjoyed incredible popularity during the Renaissance and all the great poets of the time wrote poems that were in turn set to madrigals by the great composers. Leonor de Lera plays a selection of such pastorals on her violin - accompanied by lute and guitar. She does this, as was customary for Renaissance and early Baroque instrumentalists, by not playing the melodies true to the notes, but by embellishing them with so-called diminutions. There were many schools and styles for these, which are described in treatises of the time, and the virtuoso also demonstrated his skills with his art of diminution. The violinist now applies the different styles to the various pieces she has chosen for this programme, which are by Monteverdi, Caccini, Falconieri, Trombocino, Willaert and many others. The result is a stylistically diverse, highly virtuosic CD that is also a comprehensive compendium of the art of diminution in Italy around 1600.

Leonor de Lera and her colleagues perform this touching music with an admirable suggestive power. de Lera, in particular, plays her part with captivating ingenuity � Pizzicato *****