Held By the Ears
The Palladian Ensemble--Pamela Thorby on recorder, Rachel Podger on violin, Susanne Heinrich on bass viol, William Carter on lute and guitar--have long championed the music of Nicola Matteis. OnHeld by the Ears, they dedicate an entire disc to the little-known Baroque composer. Matteis wrote beautiful, lively airs filled with weird touches (just check out the driving recorder part in "Aria Presto" or the oddball mood swings of "Aria ad imitatione della Trombetta") and plenty of long-forgotten duds, too. Of course, even the Palladians admit that much of Matteis's work is "doggerel," so they've wisely filled out this disc with Celtic works of the same vintage. The effect is great: we get Matteis's very best and traditional works of the same style ("The Lass of Peatie's Mill," "Scots Airs," "A New Tune"). The Palladians play it all impeccably well and true to Matteis's originals. A great, and fun, disc.--Jason Verlinde