le Quartet Des Smythe Smith Les Secrets de Sir Richard Kenworthy

The technology at our command, the electronic images we see every day, the ease and swiftness of world travel and communication has left modern humans with a waning sense of awe. We can argue about who was or is better off, but for 17th century Europeans, awe-inspiring events happened with some regularity. Pageantry was one of the more effective and popular means to impress a congregation, and there was nothing like a huge celebration in a massive cathedral to remind each person of his place in the grand scheme.

The existence of a third Passion by Bach based on the Gospel of St. Mark had long been known. Numerous studies carried out from the second half of the 20th century by specialist musicologists and musicians confirmed that on Good Friday, 1731, Bach presented this Passion set to a text by Picander, which the latter published one year later at the same time as his third volume of poetry. In 2009, the existence of this Passion was fully confirmed by the discovery at St. Petersburg of a later version of the libretto used for a new performance of the work, which took place in 1744. Compared with the 1732 libretto, it contains a number of modifications to the texts, as well as a different ordering of some chorales and arias and the addition of two new arias. Thanks to the new version, we have a very clear idea of the form and content of this third Passion by Bach.

Following the huge success of the Symphonies boxsets, and considering Jordi Savall's expertise in sacred music it was invevitable that he should record the Missa Solemnis. As in his previous Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn recordings, the Catalan maestro delivers a recording freed from the weight of past traditions to underline the dynamics, the section balance and the timbres that are required in this repertoire. He ignites the Promethean fire as imagined by Beethoven's demiurgic mind.

La photo de studio fait rêver et l’on pourrait la croire inaccessible au commun des photographes. Il n’en est rien ! Tout photographe, même avec du matériel simple, peut se lancer et progresser dans cette discipline. Cet ouvrage a pour ambition de l’y aider ; toutes les spécificités du studio y sont abordées en détail, des fondamentaux que sont le choix du matériel, la mesure de l’exposition, le positionnement de la lumière, le cadrage, la perspective et la direction du modèle, jusqu’à la mise en pratique concrète de plans d’éclairage simples, facilement réalisables, …

Dans de nombreuses familles le fait de se taire est synonyme de décence. Pas facile en effet de parler d’un père de famille ruiné, d’un adultère, d’un viol, d’un suicide, d’un inceste…

« Rêver est une chance, un don offert par la nature ; se souvenir de ses rêves une bénédiction ! J’ai pris l’habitude de considérer le rêve comme un guide, et d’exposer au plus grand nombre la façon de s’approprier les conseils surgis des ténèbres. Ces rêves ont constitué la matière première de ce livre. On trouvera ici leur description précise, mais aussi les fragments de vie que charrient toujours les rêves. On y lira comment on remonte, et toujours avec l’aide du rêveur, du récit aux pensées, et de ces pensées aux conseils pratiques qui permettent au rêve de s’accomplir dans la vie. …

Lully, Handel, Charpentier, Scheidt, Biber, Schein, Cabanilles, Dumanoir, Rosenmüller, Jenkins, Cererols, Blow: this double SACD-book gathers the who’s-who of European music, to mention but a few, of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th centuries. Deeply affected by the Thirty Years War as well as the War of Spanish Succession, the finest music inspired by this turmoil is vividly performed by Jordi Savall and his ensembles. The set ends with a fantastic and complete performance of Handel’s 'Jubilate Deo'.