Paul O'Dette, Bestemming Centraal-Europe

In music history, Central Europe is often no more than a footnote. A pity, thought Paul O’Dette, and for Laus 2026 he put together a tasting platter of the most beautiful music and most interesting composers circulating around 1600. That he could draw from a large supply of music for lute should come as no surprise: mobile, elegant, and versatile, the instrument was the ideal travel companion. The cosmopolitan musical landscape comes to life in the imaginative lines of Matthias Reymann, the sparkling dances of Melchior Neusidler, graceful melodic contours by Wojciech Długoraj, and elegant sound poetry signed Jakob Reis. With icons John Dowland and Jacques Gautier as a compass, O’Dette shows how Central Europe helped write the larger European story