Do you know Albert de Rippe or Alberto da Ripa, Alberto da Mantova, or indeed Alberto Mantovano? Thanks to the new album from lutenist Paul O'Dette recorded in Quebec in 2016, we have become acquainted with one of the most important lute players and composers of the Renaissance. Born around 1500 in Mantua or in... Ripa (currently Riva di Suzzara), at a very young age he entered the service of the King of France François I, along with a number of other Italian artists including Leonardo da Vinci. The King granted him lands in the Dombes and sums of money besides. This royal recognition is surely testament to the exceptional quality of the work of the Italian composer, who had written many "fantasies", but also arrangements for songs which were then in vogue, and several dances. Rippe also probably refused to have his works be published, preferring to keep them for himself: so they have survived to the present day only through copies made by his student Guilliaume Morlaye.
Rippe's music is richly expressive and rounded off by a very accomplished writing technique, which produces rich and full sounds. Not content with 3-note chords, as most of his contemporaries were, Rippe explores his instrument with rich harmonic combinations of 5 or 6 notes, to imitate the luxuriant sound of a large choir. A passionate fan of Rippe's music, Paul O'Dette wanted to present the widest possible range from the repertoire of those times, ending his record with a stunning piece, La Séraphine. The identity of the writer isn't known precisely, but there are good reasons to believe that it is the master himself. © François Hudry/Qobuz