Arianna

Speaking in general about Porpora, and in particular his Ariadne, in 1910 the French musicographer Romain Rolland wrote ""Histor didn't do him justice. He was fit to compete with Handel, and the comparison between Handel's Ariadne and Porpora's, staged a few weeks apart, is not at all in favour of the former. Handel's music is elegant; but doesn't have the strength of certain arias in Porpora's Ariadne in Naxos. These arias' form has an excessively classical regularity; but powerful inspiration circulates through these Roman temples."" The common place of Porpora, a singing teacher ready to subordinate everything to his pupils' voices, must be reflected upon in the light of the vocal writing in these pages: in which belcanto flourishes are generally administered abundantly and in each case almost always justified by musial and expressive reasons and immersed in the character's specific dimension.

The third album of Arianna Savall, Petter Udland Johansen & Hirundo Maris on Carpe Diem Records is a musical journey along coasts and oceans, an ode to seafarers and travellers from ancient and modern times, to their lifes, hopes and dreams. The windrose points into all cardinal points, encompassing all different cultures and places on earth in its movement. At the same time, it can be a symbol for the inner travels of the human soul which may aim into all different directions and places throughout life. In this sense, the songs on this album connect inner and outer journeying through music and poetry, just as countries and people are connected through oceans, currents and winds.

Mediterranean and Nordic Christmas music with Arianna Savall and her Baroque ensemble Hirundo Maris. Since the founding of their ensemble in 2009, Hirundo Maris, the Catalan harpist and singer Arianna Savall, and the Norwegian tenor and violist Petter Udland Johansen have committed themselves to music from the Middle Ages up to the Baroque period. And a special emphasis has been Mediterranean and Nordic music. For their current album, 'Silent Night Early Christmas Music and Carols' both musicians and ensemble conductors have chosen traditional Christmas songs from the north and south. And in doing so, invite you along on a journey of sound into the magical world of centuries-old winter, Advent, and Christmas music.