The debut album of the young viola da gamba player, André Lislevand, is centred around the great viol works of Antoine Forqueray. "Forqueray Unchained" - perhaps a provocative title, but a fitting allusion to the freedom in Forqueray's music. Music without chains, without stylistic constraints, in perfect balance between the French and Italian styles. A particularly intriguing melange when one thinks about the diverse nature of the two musical cultures: where the Italian blazes in virtuosity and extrovert force, the French cultivates the magic of tone, the colours and formal perfection.
André Lislevand - with a French mother and a Norwegian father, but born and raised in Italy - perfectly embodies the musical dualism that is the focus of this album. Together with Paola Erdas on the harpsichord, Jadran Duncumb on the theorbo, and with a cameo by his father, Rolf Lislevand, he presents a programme where Forqueray's visionary viol works are playfully combined with pieces by his contemporaries, free and unchained in a game of virtuosity and sensitivity. &opy: Alpha Classics