Roberto Fabbriciani (flutes), Alvise Vidolin (electronics) Mode 224 ****

Aldo Clementi likes to write music in dense counterpoint, often compacted to a tightness that can be almost like a form of strangulation. The Fantasia su roBErto FABriCIAni juxtaposes live flute with pre-recorded flutes, which are made to sound like a distant, slowly seething mass. The movement of slow masses also characterises Passacaglia, for flute and recorded flute, where the material from familiar flute pieces is heard at various levels, wheeling slowly. Ouverture, written for 12 flutes (half the number of the Fantasia, and all here overdubbed by Fabricciani), is shorter and lighter. Lighter still are the short luCiAno BErioand Parafrasi 2for alto flute and tape. The construction of Clementi's music may be rigorous, but the effect in these fine performances by Roberto Fabbriciani is at once desultory and peculiarly compelling. See url.ie/8b2u