Calling the Muse

Bruno Helstroffer, who plays the theorbo—a close relation of the lute—has ranged far and wide in this lovely program. He’s clearly called the muse and she’s replied from many different centuries: a solo by Kapsberger one minute, a Satie Gnossienne the next, a loving tribute to Mandingo music sitting alongside a work that seems to evoke the spirit of India. But Helstroffer doesn’t do this entirely alone—singer Rosemary Standley adds her words while actor Jean-Luc Debattice reads a poem over a 16th-century composition. It’s imaginative, clever, and done with considerable style. A wonderful time-traveling album.