In May of 2017, the 450th anniversary of the birth of one of the giants of classical music Claudio Monteverdi, led ACT chief Siggie Loch to publish an unusual publication, "Monteverdi in the Spirit of Jazz." Richie Beirach's "Round about Monteverdi" album, and the rest of the compositions were chosen from many of Monteverdi's jazz transcriptions, scattered across various records in the Munich label. Classical music has been inspiring jazz musicians for many years, often provoking direct access to a variety of works. Many classic canon tracks are proving to be a great material for improvisation and a starting point for creating completely new themes. These references will be found in many recordings of modern European jazz. The musicians are eager to reach both Chopin and Bach's works, like Wagner and Monteverdi. The music of one of the most important artists of the Baroque style, looking for new forms of expression of the Venetian composer in his epoch, was a gratifying material for jazz transcriptions and improvisational variations. Paolo Fresu trumpeter, accordionist Richard Galliano, bassist Lars Danielsson and pianist Michael Wollny and Jan Lundgren. These recordings and other musicians, who are transcripts, and often variations on the fragments selected from Claudio Monteverdi's works, are on this album. The whole was so constructed that we had the impression of communing with a completely new conceptual form. There is also a real gem in the album "Monteverdi in the Spirit of Jazz" for collectors. This was not previously recorded on any other record of Michael Wollny's Trance "Arianna Lament", a song from Monteverdi's second opera from 1608. This recording came from the recording session of the great album "Weltentraum" (2014), but ultimately was not included in his program.
