This album has been released twice: by the Symphonia label under the title
Consonanze Stravaganti and by Pan Classics as the similar Baroque Extravagances. The title in each case comes from one of the works included, Giovanni Maria Trabaci's Consonanze Stravaganti (Extravagant Consonances), composed around 1600 and constituting an instrumental counterpart to Carlo Gesualdo's radical experiments with harmony. That work was transmitted as organ music, but the Italian viol consort
L'Amoroso and leader,
Guido Balestracci, contend that arrangement of music from other media is critical to understanding the Italian viol consort repertory. This hardly goes without debate in the way the musicians seem to think, but it's not unreasonable, and parallel examples for what they do here could be cited from English viol music. Some of the composers, such as the little-known Marco Ferro, are genuine examples of homegrown Italian viol consort music, and these pieces are largely new and welcome to the recorded repertory. More controversial than the appropriation of non-viol pieces is the use of percussion in the arrangements.
Balestracci starts off in Antonio Valente's Tenore de Zefiro (track 1) with a rainstick-like sound from an unidentified percussion instrument. At no point after that is the sound so strange, but percussionist Alberto Macchini deploys a range of percussion instruments. The general listener who enjoys the sound of a viol consort is likely to find this a varied and diverting program;
Balestracci combines the experimental harmonies of Trabaci with big processional pieces like the Ballo de Gran Duca of Giovanni Battista Buonamente and even an intriguing Ballo del Battaglia (Dance of the Battle) by Bernardo Storace. Specialists may find the album a bit far out on the speculative side. But it's likely to be worth the purchase price for both groups.