BY MIRANDA ILCHEF, LEAD WRITER
Danny Lucin has a particularly strong passion for the cornetto (the historical wind instrument rather than the ice cream). Considered to be a brass instrument and predecessor to the trumpet (at least in function), the cornetto is actually made of leather-covered wood, and curved in a way that gives it a snake-like appearance.
The cornetto’s unique agility and voice-like character first drew Danny to the instrument. He felt there was a lack of professional Australian performances involving the cornetto, and this led him to develop the renowned ensemble La Compañia more than a decade ago.
Danny describes La Compañia now as “a mixed ensemble with a dynamic rhythm section and an array of period instrumental colours”.
“As well as pioneering early brass in Australia, La Compañia has forged a global reputation for vivacious presentations,” Danny tells us.
La Compañia is dedicated to the music of the Renaissance and early Baroque, rather than the later periods that many of our country’s early music ensembles typically focus on. Artistically, this can be quite a satisfying mode of operation when compared to a more standard orchestra with its exacting performance traditions and rules. Danny explains that the music from this earlier time was “written in a way that allows for and indeed expects a greater creative input from the performers”.
“This often means complete freedom for our interpretations with a high degree of improvisation, so performances are always fresh and imaginative.”
La Compañia’s next concert on February 17 at Melbourne Recital Centre, titled The Baroque of Venice, is a musical exploration into the evolution and transition from Renaissance richness to Baroque expression. Danny describes this as being “the best of both worlds” as it includes “the striking melodies and virtuosic songs emerging at the turn of the century by masterful composers such as Monteverdi, along with lush rhythmic soundscapes of the Renaissance”.
In this program, Danny’s cornetto – with its striking likeness to the human voice – will be paired with soprano Jacqueline Porter along with two sackbuts (yes, you read that correctly – they are the ancestors of the modern-day trombone), Baroque violin, viola da gambas, and a rhythm section including the majestic theorbo (an imperious-looking long-necked lute), guitar, percussion, and chamber organ.
The instruments will be tuned at a higher pitch than we typically hear in the modern day, as was customary for Venetian music of the era, so the audience will be taken on an aural trip back in time. The show will be a rare opportunity to see these fascinating and unique instruments played live.
The repertoire to be performed delves firstly into the work of Monteverdi, including the regal Toccata and other excerpts from his pioneering opera L’Orfeo. Moving through Monteverdi’s pedagogical legacy, the audience will then be treated to some glorious arias from his student Francesco Cavalli before hearing the works of a range of lesser-known composers.
Danny can’t pick a favourite item on the program, describing them as “14 handpicked gems”, but he does mention that the concert ends with a particularly spirited chaccona. This program makes up a sort of delightful tasting menu from this transitive era in musical history.
La Compañia has a brand-new and Australian-themed surprise in store for this concert, too. Danny’s love for cornettos has led to him learning how to make the instruments himself, and for this program he has actually created a Venetian-pitched model of cornetto – covered in dark-red kangaroo leather. Danny says those interested in seeing the cornetto up close are “welcome to come and meet me in the foyer after the performance”.
This concert, with its subtle fusion of two cultures across nations and time, will set the audience at the interface of music and history.
Experience La Compañia – The Baroque of Venice at 7pm February 17 in Elisabeth Murdoch Hall.
Photos supplied. Painting of musicians from Procession in honour of Our Lady of Sablon in Brussels via Wikimedia Commons.
