The resulting lack of intermodulation distortion through mechanical feedback helps explain Lilli’s smudge-free, leading-edge precision and cleanly focussed output. Combine that with the light-touch, phase-coherent second-order crossover and it’s hardly surprising that the resulting rhythmic and dynamic tracking are so agile and articulate. Notes start when they should, stop when they should and the gaps between them are preserved, rather than smoothed over. Just as instruments are placed with precision, so are notes and phrases. Dynamic range might not be full bandwidth, but it is beautifully scaled and modulated. Along with the sure-footed placement of notes, that gives music shape, pace (whether that pace is fast, slow or variable), purpose and direction.
Il virtuoso, il poeta
Play Locatelli’s Violin Concerto in A Major, Op.3, No.11 (from il virtuoso, il poeta, Isabelle Faust with Antonini/Il Giarino Armonico – Harmonia Mundi HMM 902398) and you will immediately hear what makes Lilli so special. The small orchestra is spread in a natural arc, wide, with reasonable depth and (of course) superb instrumental separation. Bass, theorbo and to some extent the cellos, lack body and fundamentals, but their musical foundation is taut as a result, pressing forward, reinforcing the music’s drive and momentum, bringing a new sense of toe-tapping intent to the continuo. Faust stands clear and distinct, in front of the band, but what really impresses is the sheer clarity and articulation with which the speakers deliver her playing. The first movement is characteristically Locatelli, carefully sculpted figures that stand against the backing, before the solo part develops with extended passages that flirt with and edge up against the instrument’s highest register, often punctuated or driven by notes from its lowest string. Not only does Lilli measure the steps in pitch and bow pressure with absolute but unforced clarity, there’s an almost physical/visual sense of the rocking bow as Faust saws from top string to bottom with astonishing speed and control. It’s as if the speaker measures (and displays) the distance across the instrument’s neck! That’s how directly this speaker projects its musical information – and it’s that that makes it so reminiscent of Linn’s Kan. The playing, the performance, the music come across as properly feisty, full of angles and corners, jaunty energy and measured poise. The disc isn’t titled il virtuoso for nothing and Lilli captures and communicates the swaggering brilliance of Locatelli’s work perfectly.
Combine locational precision with temporal and dynamic integrity and the result is a sense of almost preternatural rhythm and pattern. That same, almost physical intent and purpose that Lilli brings to Faust’s fiddle, she brings to guitar, whether it’s the delicate precision and almost aching beauty of Yepes’ opening lines in the second movement of the Rodrigo (Argenta, on Decca SXL 2091) or Neil Young’s more solidly sculpted riffs on Sleeps With Angels (Reprise 9362-45749-1). In both cases, Lilli captures the full expressive range – and in the latter, all of the attitude. The same is true of the intelligibility and impact she brings to vocals. This is the musical skeleton laid bare: all the message, just the scantiest wrapping. It’s not as stark as the harmonically bereft (and occasionally brutal) Kan: Lilli does do instrumental colour; just don’t expect the rich harmonics and instrumental body that go with wide bandwidth reproduction. This is pared back and ripped, its musical impact the result of focussed energy and lively dynamics, rather than sheer weight (and the musical padding that goes with it). Buddy Holly always wrote a catchy tune, but here his songs positively zip along, with more hooks than a long-line Tuna boat. The dirty groove of Steve Dawson’s ‘Love Is A Blessing’ has a real grind to it; smooth yet grubby at the same time.
