01 Keep Going
02 Albanese
03 Brothers
04 La Florentine
05 Metamorphosis
06 Nana Bobò
07 8 Maggio
08 Il Sogno di Proserpina
09 Baghdad’s Spring
10 Prairies

All compositions by Paolo Pandolfo, except ‘Albanese’ by Andrea Pandolfo

Pandolfo is a musician committed to his instrument and his time. His is an alert mind, at times even tormented, always grappling with the idea of his role as a viola da gamba soloist three centuries after the instrument’s virtual disappearance. In 2003 things fell into place and the realization of an idea with a vague and uncertain outline became possible…

At first conceived as a solo recording project, a few days before the sessions were to begin, and almost by coincidence, the singer Laura Polimeno and Paolo’s brother, the trumpet player Andrea Pandolfo, joined the adventure. The stage was set for two real surprises: on the one hand, a viola da gamba CD comprised entirely of new, modern works, and on the other, the creation of a new and fascinating sonority, produced by combining the viola da gamba with trumpet and voice.

The result is profoundly and unusually beautiful. Recorded in Spain (Robledo de Chavela) and Belgium (Namur), this is a truly important CD. It is one of those discs which defines our label’s commitments, not only to the painstaking reconstruction of the sounds of the past, but also and above all to the projection of this immense treasure into the future, so in need of intelligent aesthetic statements.

"Baghdad's Spring", the longest track on this album, is an impressive piece which was composed by Pandolfo in Japan during the first days of the US-lead coalition bombings over Baghdad, in March 2003. It is the artist's wish that this track is offered for free downloading (see box above).