Although it is not stated in the booklet‚ ‘Grand Ballet’ would seem to be from the soundtrack for ‘a film project by Juan Lucas’. Very much the product of Spanish musicians and sound technicians‚ these CDs of French viol music were recorded in Berlin at the Siemensvilla. Although no one would deduce anything in particular from these circumstances‚ the fact remains that we are left – at least until the film is released and/or advertised – in the dark. Paolo Pandolfo has released a number of innovative recordings in recent years (his fine performances on the viol of the Bach cello suites for Glossa‚ a Gramophone Editor’s Choice in 10/01‚ represents just one) which have set him apart from other top players of today. This two­CD set takes the rather more conventional form of a recital‚ with three of Marin Marais’s finest suites capped by his most famous work‚ the Couplets de Folies‚ which Pandolfo prefaces with his own masterful improvisation on the well­known Spanish theme. Here as before‚ Pandolfo plays Marais with great affinity and technical command. There is elegance; there is dramatic intensity in the preludes and virtuosity in the quick movements. He infuses the slower ones and the more delicately textured small­scale dances with intimacy and tenderness‚ the quicker‚ more robust ones with perky inégalité and swagger. His imaginative performance of the Grand Ballet crowning the A minor suite conveys a sense of occasion. The inclusion in the booklet of a short essay on ‘Gesture and sound’ is indicative of his theatrical bent and‚ specifically‚ his interest in choreography‚ which may relate to Lucas’s film‚ entitled Le Labyrinthe. I would take issue with Pandolfo’s interpretation of the opening Prélude of the A minor Suite‚ where he shortens the pauses between the phrases (creating an effect rather like the run­on sentences of television weather reporters) and with the somewhat exaggerated inflection he gives to the ends of upward­moving lines in and the tension (almost a twist) with which he sometimes infuses trills and enflés (listen in particular to the A minor Allemande and Courante‚ and the D minor Sarabande). And not everyone will approve of his penchants for sharply contrasting tempi and changes of continuo instrumentation within movements. A powerful and commanding player‚ Pandolfo has assembled a large complement of continuo players – in addition to a second bass viol and a harpsichord‚ there are two further players of both theorbo and Baroque guitar‚ who accompany him alone and in different combinations. He uses them to greatest effect in contrasting paired dances (such as the Menuets) and the more extended movements: the A minor Chaconne‚ the G major Muzette. If the guitars in particular contribute to the Spanishness of ‘La Folie’ and of Pandolfo himself‚ his viol playing is always a fitting tribute to his French master. A very enjoyable recording. What now of the film?