It’s rare for anyone to have a lukewarm response to the recorder: generally, either you love it or you love to hate it. Even if you fall into the latter category, give this recording, which features no less than four recorders (five, if you count the guest appearance by virtuoso Marion Verbruggen), a try. It certainly will challenge your notion of what a recorder can do. The program whirls through 16 works (most lasting no more than a few minutes) from revered composers such as Josquin and Byrd to the less well known (Nathaniel Pattrick and Diego Ortiz, anyone?).
The assembled guest artists, a fairly eclectic bunch, coax a wide variety of textures out of the Flanders Quartet. A dark, moody Saltarello is the heart of the recording: it’s both the longest selection and the most captivating. Alongside the Luthomania ensemble (a highly unusual grouping of lute, baroque guitar, Middle Eastern ud, and Chinese p’i-p’a) and percussion, the four recorders morph from their usually bright and sunny selves into melancholy, shadowy figures.
Unfortunately, the liner notes are silly, veering wildly from the embarrassingly obvious (“They take practicing seriously, like a fine string quartet”) to the overly whimsical (“Send for the Batmobile!”) before devolving into semi-coherent ramblings. I would much rather know more about what attracted these artists to these works, to each other, and to their guest colleagues. The sound is clean and close. Even if you think you’re not a recorder fan, this should make you reconsider.
