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El Pont d'Arcalis & Ariondassa
Del Piemont als Pirineus
Discos del Meditarrani (www.discmedi.com)
This rousing live recording (Barcelona, November 2003) is an experimental collaboration between the Catalan folk quintet El Pont d'Arcalis and Ariondassa, the Italian folk sextet from Piemonte. The cultural and geological connection expressed in the CD title is manifest in a palpable resonance of polyphonic vocal styles and folk instrumentation (strings, woodwinds, whistles, percussion) between the two regions. Ariondassa includes several alumni of the well-known, long-lived Italian revival band from Piemonte, Tre Martelli: Simone Boglia (vocals, recorders, oboe, whistles, musette, clarinet), Lorenzo Boioli (recorders, oboe, ocarina, musette), Rinaldo Doro (accordion) and singer Vincenzo "Ciacio" Marchelli.
Several traditional selections from the Tre Martelli repertoire made their way to the stage, to the audience's enthusiastic delight, along with an assortment of ballads and marches. Listeners who read Catalan or Italian will benefit from the lyric transcriptions, but the lack of notes in any language would suggest that the concert and recording were intended primarily for the previously initiated. But that won't keep new listeners from appreciating the vocal and instrumental bonhomie of this musical alliance; Del Piemont als Pirineus is an energetic assay of the contemporary vitality of the folk traditions linking these two regions. - Michael Stone
CD available from cdRoots
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