The young Spanish viola da gamba player Fahmi Alqhai is a further new musician to join that select group of artists who define and shape the world of Glossa. With his ensemble Accademia del Piacere, Alqhai has, for some years now, been turning away from the well-worn pathways in order to explore new possibilities in terms of presentation and interpretation in his musical work; a good example of this has been his recent and highly-successful collaborative activities with the cantaor Arcángel. In his first recording for Glossa, Rediscovering Spain - fantasías, diferencias & glosas, Alqhai is aiming to go far beyond the customary "authentic" approach of interpretation (for him a notion which is becoming increasingly empty). In this way, Accademia del Piacere sets out to recover and bring up to date in all its aspects the common practice of musicians from the 16th and 17th centuries - a time when any composition provided the opportunity or excuse for trying out all the possibilities of commentary, paraphrase and creating glosas around original material (often composed by others and in many cases created with these ends in mind). Recorded in a studio in Sevilla over the course of many weeks, in spectacular sound and with attention to the finest of details, this album involves no less than 15 instrumentalists as well as the soprano Raquel Andueza, who features in three pieces. Rediscovering Spain is presenting a repertory known to one and all but in a completely different light, and with a freshness and an energy which will undoubtedly turn this release into a genuine landmark achievement.