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GRAMOPHONE ( 05 / 2018)
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Ambronay
AMY309



Code-barres / Barcode : 3149028129694

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Reviewer: Fabrice Fitch

Sollazzo, whose second recording this is, have been making a name for themselves since their formation in 2014. As with their debut CD, ‘Parle qui veut’ (Linn, 12/17), this programme focuses on 14th-century Italian and French repertories, including the songs associated with the notorious but shadowy circle of the fumeux. (Other medieval stalwarts, the Song of the Sybil, the Robertsbridge fragment and the Laudario di Cortona, also make an appearance.) Their approach allows mixing and matching different parts on a given written voice, but this is subtly done and rarely distracting (or even perceptible at first hearing).

One gravitates to the fumeux pieces, perhaps, because of their substantial discography, but the lesser-known selections are often more satisfying because delivered less self-consciously. The famous Fumeux, fume feels unresolved: the languid approach resonates with the disc’s programme but works against the song’s starkly directed cadences. The zest and energy of these performances, with their bright sonic palette and crisp vocal projection, is very engaging; but towards the end of the disc, the energy levels get a touch distracting, the voices almost tripping over themselves as though the notes might escape them. The unheralded Morte m’a sciolt’, amor works better precisely because musical details are allowed to speak for themselves.

Granted, a ‘less is more’ philosophy may not be what these musicians are after; but the most arresting track here – from the Litany of the Dead, sung in parallel seconds with just the tenor and the two female voices (unless my ears deceive me?) in unison at the bottom of their range – makes the point most eloquently, all the same.

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