Credits:

d'India (1582-1629)

Description:

Sidismondo Dindia was born in Sicily in the same generation as Frescobaldi and Gibbons, and was active throughout Italy at the beginning of the 17th century. Dindia was one of the leading figures in the development of madrigale (polyphony) from the polyphony-centered sound of the Renaissance to the Baroque style, which emphasized solo and polyphonic singing. His ability to use the fine harmonic techniques of Marenzio, Lutzaski, and Gesualdo, who belong to a slightly older generation, as well as the chromatic scale technique, to accentuate the flow of the lyrics while imbuing the music as a whole with the "beauty of imbalance" has always attracted attention in the recent revival of ancient music, but a single album concentrating on his works has been surprisingly rare. However, there have been surprisingly few stand-alone albums that concentrate on his works. It is good news that a full-fledged 2-CD recording by the ensemble of Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, a leading figure in the Latin classical music world who specializes in 17th century music from the Mediterranean region of Italy and Spain, has appeared.The music is full of thrilling sounds, with the voices of Mariana Flores and Julie Lozée, both of whom are equally distinctive, and the nuances of the bass passages, in which the flavors of bowed and plucked strings complement each other, convey the ups and downs of the music with the utmost precision, making even the 10+ minute piece, which is quite long for a 17th century work, seem short. The sound is so thrilling and full of interesting things to listen to here and there that it makes even the longest piece of the 17th century, over 10 minutes, seem short. In the masterpieces "Olympia's Lament" and "Poor Didone," the singers are given their full share of the stage. This is a recording that will raise expectations for future releases, and one cannot help but feel again the joy of living in the same era as Alarcon, a brilliant man who can be considered the poster child of early Baroque music. Naxos Japan