Inventio is an inventive project at all levels, beginning with the instrumentation. Marco Ambrosini is one of very few musicians playing nyckelharpa outside the Swedish folk tradition, and Jean-Louis Matinier has similarly taken the accordion beyond any ‘folkloric’ frame of reference. On the present disc, the French-Italian duo plays a programme inspired by the baroque sonatas of Bach and Biber but also by the lyrical cadences of Pergolesi. They adapt and arrange works of each of these masters, and contribute compositions of their own. Following a path from ancient to modern music, they improvise together, finding new sound-colour combinations in the special blending of their instruments. Inventio is a recording that will delight listeners who have appreciated Matinier’s ECM recordings with Anouar Brahem, François Couturier’s Tarkovsky Quartet, and Louis Sclavis, as well as Ambrosini’s discs with Rolf Lislevand, Giovanna Pessi/Susanna Wallumrød and Helena Tulve. (And it has the potential to speak to a still broader audience: concerts with this music will follow in Autumn 2014.) Inventio was recorded at the Auditorio Radiotelevisione svizzera studio in in Lugano, and produced by Manfred Eicher.
Inventio
Jean-Louis Matinier, Marco Ambrosini
“Inventio” ist in der Tat ein in jeder Hinsicht innovatives Projekt, was bereits bei der Instrumentierung offenbar wird: Marco Ambrosini ist einer der wenigen Musiker, die die Nyckelharpa außerhalb der schwedischen Folktradition einsetzen – und Jean-Louis Matinier hat in ähnlicher Weise das Akkordeon aus seinem üblichen folkloristischen Bezugsrahmen geholt. Auf dem vorliegenden Album spielt das Duo ein Programm, das von den Barocksonaten von Bach und Biber, aber auch von den lyrischen Kadenzen Pergolesis inspiriert ist. Sie adaptieren Werke von jedem dieser Meister und tragen auch eigene Kompositionen bei. Eine Route von der Alten zur modernen Musik verfolgend, improvisieren sie mit diesem Material und finden dabei immer neue Klangkombinationen in der speziellen Verbindung ihrer beiden Instrumente. „Inventio“ wird Hörer ansprechen, die schon Matiniers ECM-Aufnahmen mit Anouar Brahem, François Couturiers Tarkovsky Quartet, und Louis Sclavis, oder auch Ambrosinis Alben mit Rolf Lislevand, Giovanna Pessi/Susanna Wallumrød und Helena Tulve zu schätzen wussten. „Inventio“ wurde im Auditorio Radiotelevisione svizzera in Lugano aufgenommen und von Manfred Eicher produziert.
- 1Wiosna
04:46 - 2Tasteggiata
03:45 - 3Basse Dance
06:17 - 4Szybko
02:16 - 5Presto from Sonata g minor (BWV 1001)
03:04 - 6Inventio 4 (BWV 775)
03:07 - 7Taïga
01:41 - 8Qui Est Homo
04:19 - 9Praeludium from Rosary Sonata No. 1
02:19 - 10Oksu
02:18 - 11Hommage
04:28 - 12Kochanie Moje
03:30 - 13Balinese
00:51 - 14Tasteggiata 2
01:05 - 15Siciliènne
02:45
“Inventio” takes its title from Bach’s Invention No 4, heard here - in a programme of great variety – in an arrangement by Jean-Louis Matinier and Marco Ambrosini. Bach’s Inventions originally had a didactic function, intended to develop a player’s ideas and give “a foretaste of composition”. Inspirations from Bach and from Biber (specifically the Rosary or Mystery sonata) and from the lyrical cadences of Pergolesi radiate into a musical journey of remarkable invention.
This is an inventive project at all levels, from the unique instrumentation onwards. Marco Ambrosini is one of very few musicians playing nyckelharpa outside the Swedish folk tradition, and Jean-Louis Matinier has similarly taken the accordion beyond any ‘folkloric’ frame of reference. On the present disc, the French-Italian duo follow a path from ancient to modern music, finding new sound-colour combinations in the special blending of their instruments and dissolving demarcations between improvisation, arrangement and composition. “Inventio” is a recording that will intrigue listeners who have appreciated Matinier’s ECM recordings with Anouar Brahem, François Couturier’s Tarkovsky Quartet, and Louis Sclavis, as well as Ambrosini’s discs with Rolf Lislevand, Giovanna Pessi/Susanna Wallumrød and Helena Tulve. Or indeed Matinier’s association with singer Juliette Gréco (he has been the singer’s accompanist since 1999)or Ambrosini’s still longer involvement with early music consort Oni Wytars.
Matinier and Ambrosini are, clearly, musicians who cover a lot of ground, their imaginations and musical curiosity inspiring pan-idiomatic experiment as well as investigation of the regions where the genres meet. One of Matinier’s early recordings was entitled “Confluences”. Sometimes it’s a matter of allowing oneself to follow the implications of the music. “My music develops by chance and at the mercy of events,” the accordionist has said. “I make music with musicians. It is first and foremost a human relationship.” Matinier partticilar enjoys the challenge of the duo setting.
Jean-Louis Matinier was born in 1963 in Nevers, France. After studying both classical music and jazz, he first attracted national and international attention as an outstanding soloist in the Orchestre National de Jazz at the end of the 1980s.
“Inventio” was recorded at the Auditorio of the Radiotelevisione Svizzera in Lugano, and produced by Manfred Eicher.
This is an inventive project at all levels, from the unique instrumentation onwards. Marco Ambrosini is one of very few musicians playing nyckelharpa outside the Swedish folk tradition, and Jean-Louis Matinier has similarly taken the accordion beyond any ‘folkloric’ frame of reference. On the present disc, the French-Italian duo follow a path from ancient to modern music, finding new sound-colour combinations in the special blending of their instruments and dissolving demarcations between improvisation, arrangement and composition. “Inventio” is a recording that will intrigue listeners who have appreciated Matinier’s ECM recordings with Anouar Brahem, François Couturier’s Tarkovsky Quartet, and Louis Sclavis, as well as Ambrosini’s discs with Rolf Lislevand, Giovanna Pessi/Susanna Wallumrød and Helena Tulve. Or indeed Matinier’s association with singer Juliette Gréco (he has been the singer’s accompanist since 1999)or Ambrosini’s still longer involvement with early music consort Oni Wytars.
Matinier and Ambrosini are, clearly, musicians who cover a lot of ground, their imaginations and musical curiosity inspiring pan-idiomatic experiment as well as investigation of the regions where the genres meet. One of Matinier’s early recordings was entitled “Confluences”. Sometimes it’s a matter of allowing oneself to follow the implications of the music. “My music develops by chance and at the mercy of events,” the accordionist has said. “I make music with musicians. It is first and foremost a human relationship.” Matinier partticilar enjoys the challenge of the duo setting.
Jean-Louis Matinier was born in 1963 in Nevers, France. After studying both classical music and jazz, he first attracted national and international attention as an outstanding soloist in the Orchestre National de Jazz at the end of the 1980s.
“Inventio” was recorded at the Auditorio of the Radiotelevisione Svizzera in Lugano, and produced by Manfred Eicher.
| YEAR | DATE | VENUE | LOCATION | |
| 2024 | November 13 | tba | Kassel, Germany |
