Cornettos made by Danny Lucin. Photo: Supplied / Danny Lucin
It looks a little like one of those unfeasibly long pipes that Gandalf smokes in Lord of the Rings, it sounds a little like a flute and you blow into it like a trumpet. For Melbourne-based musician Danny Lucin, there's no instrument that's finer.
We're talking about the cornetto, which has a mouth piece like a brass instrument but is made of wood, with a bit of leather cladding.
The cornetto had its heyday in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, about the time Monteverdi composed his choral masterpiece, the Vespers of 1610.
These days, a good cornetto is hard to find, which is why Lucin flew all the way to Wellington to perform the work with the Tudor Consort this weekend.
Lucin, along with conductor Michael Stewart, joined RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump ahead of the gig at St Mary of the Angels church.
Listen out for high flying cornettos. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
The pair talked about the piece, while Lucin gave a live demonstration of the cornetto sound in the studio.
Lucin came to the cornetto via the trumpet. He says once he started playing he was hooked.
So much so, when he's not playing a cornetto, Lucin is making them. He'd stay in his shed all day, he says, if he wasn't asked inside to do other things.
Lucin uses a variety of woods (fruit trees are often good) and for the leather cladding he chooses kangaroo hide. Well, he is Australian.
Conductor Michael Stewart says he was delighted to be able lure Lucin and fellow Australian cornettist Matthew Manchester across the Tasman to join the 18-strong period instrument orchestra that will accompany his choir, the Tudor Consort.
Lucin has lost count of the number of Monteverdi Vespers he's played in, but he never tires of it.
As well as working as freelance, Lucin also leads his own early music ensemble, La Compañia.
Maybe next time he comes over to New Zealand he could bring the whole band with him.
Australian early music ensemble La Compañia. Director and cornetto player Danny Lucin is third from the right. Photo: GAVI BLUE
