Nobilissimo Istromento: Virtuoso Lute Music of the Italian Renaissance Luca Pianca

• Francesco da Milano (1497 - 1543):
• 1Milano: Fantasia 65 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")02:40
• 2Milano: Fantasia 30 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")02:13
• Giovanni Maria da Crema (1600):
• 3Crema: Recercar secondo (No. 2 from "Intabolatura de Lauto, Libro 1 - Venice, 1546")01:43
• Claudin de Sermisy (1490 - 1562):
• 4Sermisy: Las je m'y plains (Version for Lute by Francesco da Milano)01:58
• Vincenzo Capirola (1490 - 1548):
• 5Capirola: Recercar alla spagnola (From "Compositione di meser Vincenzo Capirola, gentil homo bresano - circa 1517")01:55
• Francesco da Milano:
• 6Milano: Canone a 2 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")01:12
• Perino Fiorentino (1523 - 1552):
• 7Fiorentino: Fantasia prima (From "Intabolatura di liuto di M. Francesco Da Milano et Perino Fiorentino suo discipulo, libro terzo - Venezia, 1562")02:57
• Francesco da Milano:
• 8Milano: Fantasia 7 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")02:20
• Francesco Bendusi (1500)
• 9Bendusi: Incognito (No. 9 from "Opera IX de balli - Venice, 1553" - Version for Solo Lute)01:40
• Francesco da Milano:
• 10Milano: Fantasia 33 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")02:59
• Jean Richafort (1480 - 1550):
• 11Richafort: De mon triste déplaisir (Version for Lute by Francesco da Milano)02:14
• Vincenzo Capirola:
• 12Capirola: Recercar nono (From "Compositione di meser Vincenzo Capirola, gentil homo bresano - circa 1517")02:02
• Francesco da Milano:
• 13Milano: Fantasia 1 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")02:35
• Giulio Cesare Barbetta (1540 - 1603):
• 14Barbetta: Fantasia septima (No. 41 from "Novae Tabulae Musicae - 1582")03:59
• Francesco da Milano:
• 15Milano: Fantasia 15 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")02:02
• 16Milano: Fantasia 34 "La Compagna" (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")03:08
• Orazio Vecchi (1550 - 1605):
• 17Vecchi: So ben mi ch'a bon tempo (Aria) (Version for Solo Lute - From "Balletti moderni facili per sonar sopra il liuto - 1608")01:41
• Francesco da Milano:
• 18Milano: Fantasia 87 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")02:50
• 19Milano: Fantasia 10 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")02:16
• Giovanni Maria da Crema:
• 20Crema: Recercar decimoquinto (No. 15 from "Intabolatura de Lauto, Libro 1 - Venice, 1546")02:39
• Francesco da Milano:
• 21Milano: Fantasia 61 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")02:02
• Giulio Segni (1498 - 1561):
• 22Segni: Fantasia ottava01:51
• Francesco da Milano:
• 23Milano: Fantasia 90 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")01:50
• Vincenzo Capirola:
• 24Capirola: Recercar sesto (From "Compositione di meser Vincenzo Capirola, gentil homo bresano - circa 1517")04:28
• Francesco da Milano:
• 25Milano: Fantasia 6 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")01:42
• Antonio Rotta (1495 - 1549):
• 26Rotta: Fantasia 67 (From "Intabolatura de lauto, Libro 1 - Venice, 1546")02:35
• Francesco da Milano:
• 27Milano: Fantasia 5 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")04:00
• Joan Ambrosio Dalza (1500)
• 28Dalza: Calata spagnola 5 (No. 32 from "Intabulatura de Lauto, Libro 4 - 1508")02:10
• Francesco da Milano:
• 29Milano: Fantasia 22 (From "Intabolatura di lauto - Milano, 1548")01:59
• Total Runtime01:09:40

Info for Nobilissimo Istromento: Virtuoso Lute Music of the Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance is the golden age of the lute; in quality and quantity, the lute pieces from this period are comparable to the piano works of the 19th century.

Most of the works selected for this recording are by Francesco da Milano, an extraordinary virtuoso and gifted composer who was also known as "Il Divino" (the Divine), an epithet he shared with Michelangelo and Monteverdi.

In addition to lute pieces by da Milano, the recording also includes other equally outstanding works by contemporaries, among them some of the Milanese's pupils.

Thanks to this selection, it is easy to comprehend still today why the lute was considered the noblest instrument of all in the 16th century: Il nobilissimo istromento.

Luca Pianca, lute

Luca Pianca
was born in Lugano in 1958 and is among Switzerland’s greatest performers of early music. The lutenist was trained by Nikolaus Harnoncourt before co-founding the renowned Baroque orchestra Il Giardino Armonico (The Harmonic Garden), he has been conducting Bach’s complete Cantates at the Vienna Concert House and is collaborating with the Concentus Musicus Wien in Vienna. Luca Pianca also performs Bach and Vivaldi’s complete works for lute as a soloist. The diversity and quality of his output are also evident in his work as part of a duo with the gambist Vittorio Ghielmi, in his sensitive accompaniments (e.g. for Cecilia Bartoli) and in his excursions into rock and new music.

Booklet for Nobilissimo Istromento: Virtuoso Lute Music of the Italian Renaissance