Stephen Stubbs - Teatro Lirico (2006)

Despite the severely modern appearance of this 2006 ECM New Series album, from the abstract cover art to the booklet's somber black and white landscape photos, this is really a collection of early music by Arcangelo Corelli, Giulio Caccini, Maurizio Cazzati, and other less familiar composers of the Baroque era. Stephen Stubbs and his brilliant ensemble Teatro Lirico are masters of their period instruments, and their historically informed performances -- in many cases, revivals -- of obscure Baroque repertoire have garnered attention worldwide. Yet the apparent discrepancy between their vintage re-creations and the au courant packaging might lead one to think that this is one of ECM's subtler attempts to expose its audience for cutting-edge modern music to a wider range of styles. The sonatas and dances on Stubbs' program are austere and brooding fare, with more than a few plangent dissonances in passing, and these moody pieces tend to blur into a long series of minor key reveries; and Teatro Lirico's combinations of violin, viola, viola da gamba, Spanish and Italian harps, Baroque guitar, and chitarrone are consistently shaded with a subdued, melancholy tone that may appeal to people who like pensive music for quiet background listening. But in no way should this suggest that this disc is a crossover product or compromised in any trendy way: Teatro Lirico's playing is serious in intent and scrupulous in execution, so any appeal the music may have is due to its excellence alone and not to any updating. The audio is clear and finely detailed, yet it is fully resonant and glows with full-bodied instrumental sonorities.