Frottole : Songs from the courts of Renaissance Italy

   in Early Music Today (Mar, 2012)
A superlatively fine disc. The luscious sound world of the Renaissance transverse flute consort remains lamentably little heard, even on the continent, and the Modena Consort is a fine ambassador for the medium. This disc of Italian frottole, largely from the Mantuan court of Isabella d’Este, is beautifully recorded and the Modena Consort’s collaborators, soprano Ulrike Hofbauer, lutenist Rene Gervais and percussionist Hiram Santos, are perfectly chosen. Even in tracks without Santos’ subtle percussion, the rhythmic impetus is never lost in the flautists’ enjoyment of their delicious sound. The relationship between a solo singer and a consort of winds in a frottola or madrigal texture can often be an uneasy one, …