Spiritillo Mediterraneo (Mediterranean Spirit)

A Vibrant Survey Of Mediterranean Baroque

Violinist Cristina Prats Costa makes her solo recording debut with Spiritillo Mediterraneo (Mediterranean Spirit), a vibrant portrait of the sound world of 17th- and early 18th-century music shaped by the cultures of the Mediterranean.

Inspired by Andrea Falconieri’s Il Spiritillo Brando, the album takes the spiritillo — a mischievous, animating sprite — as a metaphor for the Baroque imagination: a realm of invention, improvisation, and richly ornamented dialogue.

The Mediterranean emerges here not as a boundary but as a crossroads, where Italian virtuosity, Spanish rhythmic fire, and French elegance converge. Music by Falconieri, Matteis, Sanz, Murcia, Nebra, Biber, Rebel, and Vivaldi reflects these exchanges, vividly coloured by the use of castanets, which add an unmistakable Iberian rhythmic vitality. The Spanish pieces appear in Cristina Prats Costa’s own arrangements, further personalising the album’s musical journey.

Deeply personal in conception, Spiritillo Mediterraneo also reflects Cristina Prats Costa’s own artistic journey. Rooted in her Spanish heritage and shaped by years of performing across Europe, North and South America, and Asia, the album places ornamentation at its expressive core — not as decoration, but as storytelling. Drawing on Italian brilliance, French refinement, and the earthy pulse of Spanish dance and guitar traditions, these interpretations balance historical insight with an individual voice. The result is a recording of rhythmic energy, intimacy, and colour, guided by a spirit that is curious, agile, and alive.

Cristina Prats Costa – violin
Lucas Harris, archlute, theorbo and Baroque guitar
Charlotte Nediger, harpsichord
Michael Unterman, violoncello
Joseph Phillips, viola da gamba & bass
Naghmeh Farahmand, daf, darbuka & tambourine
Esmeralda Enrique, castanets