Midtown Concerts • Richard Kolb
Les Goûts réunis, 1620 ~ Music of Michelangelo Galilei and his Contemporaries
Richard Kolb ~ 8- and 10-course lute
“Les Goûts réunis” is inspired by the unique blend of styles in the music of Michelangelo Galilei, published in 1620 in his Primo libro d’intavolatura. Galilei’s combination of styles is deconstructed in a series of pieces showing various elements that he brought together: traditional Renaissance counterpoint in a classic Fantasie by Gregorio Huwet; tuneful lyricism in a Fancy and Galliard by John Dowland; dramatic expressive gesture in a Toccata by Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, and the emerging French “style brisée” in a suite by Robert Ballard. Galilei masterfully combined these elements of style to produce such pieces as his Grand Toccata in D minor and Suite in B-flat Major.
Richard Kolb has recently released a recording of music from Michelangelo Galilei’s Primo libro d’intavolatura (Acis APL20415), along with earlier releases of music by Robert Ballard in 2019 (Centaur CRC 3747) and songs from Barbara Strozzi’s Opus 8 with soprano Elissa Edwards (Acis APL20315). His scholarly activities have included the first modern edition of the complete works of Strozzi, published in eight volumes by Cor Donato Editions, and an edition of Francesca Caccini’s Primo libro delle musiche has just been published. A recording of songs from Strozzi’s Opus 3 and Opus 6 is forthcoming.
