Christina Pluhar Essentials
Apple Music


With her L'Arpeggiata ensemble, this lute-family string player and conductor has shaken up the period-instrument scene with her jazzy arrangements of classics by the likes of Purcell (such as “Music for a While”) and Monteverdi's madrigals. Her toe-tapping catalog for the Erato, Alpha Productions, and Virgin Classics labels also includes excursions into South American and Mediterranean early-music traditions. This is not the scene to investigate if you are unshakably wedded to period convention. But those who are willing to swing along with Pluhar's breezy sensibility will be deeply rewarded.