Virtuosic Venetian Renaissance music for soprano, recorder and strings, recorded on newly reconstructed early Italian viols, unlocking a novel and unfamiliar soundworld.

Firmly established on the Early Music scene, soprano soloist Ulrike Hofbauer is a versatile artist, she not only appears on the concert platform but also on the opera stage and features on many CD and radio recordings as well as in films. She is particularly interested in the study of musical rhetoric, ornamentation and the “recitar cantando” style, making her an ideal interpreter of the works recorded here.

Co’l dolce suono presents virtuosic Renaissance music for soprano, recorder and strings by Venetian artists around the composer Adrian Willaert and the singer Polissena Pecorina. Recorded with an ensemble of early Italian viols, painstakingly reconstructed following the latest scholarly findings, a new soundworld emerges: current research documents that string instruments of the early sixteenth century were built without sound posts and bass bars. Performing these sparkling Renaissance works, the sound of these instruments can now be experienced for the first time.

The Ensemble Arcimboldo (Basel) was founded in 1991 by Thilo Hirsch. Outstanding reviews, numerous concert engagements, and frequent invitations to European festivals document the ensemble’s success. Alongside radio recordings the ensemble has recorded several CDs since 2005.