Maniera is the debut album from Italian Contemporary classical composer Marco Baldini. It features seven chamber pieces for strings played by the respected modern ensemble Apartment House. The album's tone moves from the forlornly rising, onto the soberingly grand & harmonically touched, to the shimmeringly & earthily droning.

The release appears on the always dependable Another Timbre. The CD album comes presented in the label's minimal gatefold packaging- with the cover artwork being of a selection of grey to slightly sun-touched clouds, which feels most fitting for the tone found within the album.  It can be purchased directly from here.

The seven pieces here date from between 2021 and 20023. We open with the nearing eight & a half minutes of “Selva” here we find a sobering bass tone gliding meeting slightly more hopeful & rising string tones. As the sonic atmosphere drifts and ebbs between the introspective, felt, and lightly troubled.

As we move on through the album we have “Arpocrate”- this just over four-minute work, brings together glowing mid-ranged string embers, with a feeling of droning simmer- the whole thing having a decidedly windswept yet grand feeling.  There’s the just shy eight minutes of “Quintetto” which is all about almost piping drifts & simmers- with the tone shifting between regally ramshackle and waveringly weary.

The album plays out with the just under seven minutes of “Otto”- which is a mixture of plaintive bass glide, harmonic rise ‘n’ hover, and droning/ bowing reserve.

Maniera is a most promising and emotionally engaging debut album.  I hope both Baldini and Apartment House work together in the future, as both the composer & players work wonderfully together.