Rosasolis
Rosasolis was released in December 2001 and is the first CD to use the orpharion as its featured instrument. The album has 31 tracks and comprises three sections…
1. Music for oak panels – a recital of orpharion and cittern solos by some of England’s finest composers.
2. The great outdoors – two medleys of hurdy-gurdy tunes taken from John Playford’s English Dancing Master from the 17th century.
3. The top shelf – a collection of five humorous but indelicate songs.
On this CD Dante is joined by Michael Sargeant who contributes to eight of the tracks on ten different wind instruments, including english bagpipes, recorders and shawm.
Rosasolis has been featured on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction.
Review
‘Dante Ferrara is a rarity. Rosasolis, his second CD, named for a tune penned by Thomas Robinson in the year of Elizabeth’s death, takes a bold overview of Elizabethan/Jacobean life. Ferrara cannily divided his CD in three parts: Music for Oak Panels is a collection of stately instrumental pieces for solo orpharion and its cousin the cittern; The Great Outdoors is a boisterous selection of music for hurdy-gurdy, recorders and reed instruments; The Top Shelf consists of five vocal tracks that explore the grittier side of life, ranging from frank sexuality to “The Wager” by William Ellis, a ribald tale of a Jacobean farting contest.
Make no mistake about it, Rosasolis is a compelling and winning CD and the only recording to showcase the orpharion, an English instrument created (it is believed) for Elizabeth and strung with wire to produce a bright, shimmering sound.
Going from the scented parlors of the wealthy, the Elizabethans also enjoyed the outdoor – boating, hunting, and dancing – to music played on woodwinds, hurdy-gurdys, and bagpipes whose sound would carry. The Great Outdoors offers a half-dozen selections that show the vitality and élan of Elizabethan musical life and provides a welcome contrast to the mannered, fine-groomed courtly compositions that comprise the bulk of Rosasolis.
Rosasolis may go from the sacred to the profane, but it always does so delightfully. More importantly, it opens a window – so to speak! – on the virtually forgotten orpharion and the wonderful wicked tunes and amorous amusements of in an era that was every bit as polarized, multifaceted and complex as our own. In short, Rosasolis is a bold and original CD that is a badly needed breath of fresh air – well, almost.’
Rating ****
from ‘Renaissance Magazine’ Copyright © Marc Cramer, 2004