傻女 苏妙玲 Miaoling Su

A sense of departure – the often-used catchword stands here not only in a figurative sense, but also for three different life situations of the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in which he left his not necessarily beloved hometown of Salzburg and set out for new shores elsewhere. In 1772, at the age of only 16, he travelled to Milan to conduct the rehearsals for the premiere of his new opera – Lucio Silla achieved a new quality of character drawing and set the trend for Mozart’s further operatic work. A few years later he revolutionised the genre of the piano concerto with the “Jenamy” concerto, the last to be composed in Salzburg. Shortly afterwards, Mozart set off on another great journey. The innovations in the interplay between soloist and orchestra laid the foundation for his later successes with the Viennese piano concertos. Finally, the Symphony K. 338 was composed shortly before Mozart left Salzburg for good; musically, it too lays the foundations for the successful Viennese years that followed.

Flautist/saxophonist Jorge Pardo is a leading proponent of nuevo flamenco. On his fifth release, he pushes the envelope, presenting jazz standards and pop alongside more traditional compositions. "Caravan" lends itself well to rhythmic interpretations, but the arrangement degenerates midway into a dark-toned muddle. "'Round Midnight" and "Michelle," presented simply with flute and guitar, fare better, coming across as pleasant, "light jazz" renditions. The balance of the compositions are mostly by Pardo, and make his case more persuasively.

Ercole su’l Termodonte was Vivaldi’s 16th opera, appearing in 1723 in Rome. There was a Papal ban on women appearing on stage at the time and so the opera was sung by seven castrati and a male tenor, the latter singing the title role, Hercules. Portraying either the Amazons of myth or Greek warriors, the castrati must have been quite a scene and made quite a sound. Conducted by a Catholic priest–Vivaldi himself–with red hair, the entire proposition boggles the mind.

A master conguero, Santamaria at his best creates an incantatory spell rooted in Cuban religious rituals, quietly seating himself before his congas and soloing with total command over the rhythmic spaces between the beats while his band pumps out an endless vamp.

Montserrat Figueras & Jordi Savall - Entremeses Del Siglo De Oro: Lope de Vega su tiempo (2003) {Alia Vox AVSA9831}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 409 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 186 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 95 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1987, 2003 Alia Vox | AVSA9831
Classical / Vocal / Chamber Music / Renaissance / Baroque

In AliaVox’s release of the album Entremeses Del Siglo De Oro: Lope de Vega y su tiempo (1550-1650), which translates to “Intermission [music] of the Golden Century: Lope de Vega and his era,” we find soprano Montserrat Figueras and the group Hespèrion XX, Jordi Savall conducting, bringing us some of the finest examples of period music that I know of. The voice of Montserrat Figueras has the limpid and pure quality of a fine recorder, that is, each note is nearly as possible free from embellishment that became part and parcel of vocal training in the following centuries. The ensemble playing of Hespèrion, a group I’ve known for ten years, has never sounded better. Hats off to Jordi Savall. The music itself is akin to entre-act music written for the Elizabethan theater, most notably Shakespeare’s plays. You’ll note the similarity of the Spanish word entremeses and the English word intermission.