Inventio

Inventio is an inventive project at all levels, beginning with the instrumentation. Marco Ambrosini is one of very few musicians playing nyckelharpa outside the Swedish folk tradition, and Jean-Louis Matinier has similarly taken the accordion beyond any 'folkloric' frame of reference. On the present disc, the French-Italian duo plays a programme inspired by the sonatas of Bach and Biber but also by the lyrical cadences of Pergolesi.

The pair adapt and arrange works of each of these Baroque masters, and contribute compositions of their own - mostly by the accordionist. Following a path from ancient to modern music, they improvise together, finding new sound-colour combinations in the special and very alluring blending of their instruments.

Inventio is a recording that will delight listeners who have appreciated Matinier's ECM recordings with Anouar Brahem (especially Le pas du chat noir), François Couturier's Tarkovsky Quartet, and Louis Sclavis (Dans la nuit), as well as Ambrosini's discs with Rolf Lislevand, Giovanna Pessi/Susanna Wallumrød (If Grief Could Wait), and Estonian composer Helena Tulve. It was recorded at the Auditorio Radiotelevisione svizzera studio in in Lugano, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Personnel: Jean-Louis Matinier (accordion), Marco Ambrosini (nyckelharpa)