Vernier

Alia Mvsica - Bestario de Cristo (Animal symbolism in religious music of 13th-century Spain)
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 300 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Harmonia Mundi Iberico # HMI 987033 | Country/Year: Spain 2003
Genre: Classical | Style: Medieval, Sacred

…So for most of us, just listening to the lively, polished performances by male and female singers, accompanied by various period instruments will be enjoyment enough–but for the more curious, the extensive and very well written liner notes offer a fine introduction to the deeper meaning of the texts and provide important context for each song. Four instrumental selections round out this flawlessly recorded program, enhanced by the ambience of the Spanish monastery venue.

Giovanni Battista Bassani (1657-1716), a relatively important figure in Ferrara, where he served as the cathedral’s maestro di cappella. This oratorio, which in its near-exclusive reliance on arias and recitative displays many of the dramatic characteristics of opera, was composed in 1686 as a tribute to those who died “in the Christian enterprises against the Turks” in 1683. Characteristic of many similar works of the period, its theme (the title means “Death confounded”) concerns an allegorical interaction among five characters–Death, Glory, Piety, Justice, and Lucifer–in which Death laments its powerlessness against the forces of Piety and Glory, who, along with Justice have assured the departed souls of the holy warriors an eternal existence in heaven.

Hearing or performing music comes closest in the range of human activity to a visceral connection to the past. As long as we have notation and knowledge of how to interpret it, we can effectively experience something like our ancestors did when they sang the same music. Of course, our 20th-century sensibilities and knowledge–or lack thereof–prevent us from sharing identical responses, but as with the music on this disc, when we hear it we are in some way transported to another place. We know a completely different sound world from our own; we know that the accepted order of certain things was different. And we also know that in many ways people haven't changed. Machaut's music conveys a spirituality–both joyful and contemplative–that's as true in its impact as it must have been 600 years ago, a point made ever so clearly by these especially vibrant and vital performances.

Quebec contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux scored a top rating on her earlier Analekta disc of Handel Italian cantatas, and in that review I expressed a desire for more recordings from this sensational young singer. If you enjoyed the Handel program (and if you don't have it, get it), you'll be just as happy with this new disc that combines two famous Baroque solo-vocal works with some engaging, relentlessly upbeat orchestral selections from the same period. Lemieux continues to impress with her warm, true-contralto tone, fluid legatos, canny phrasing, and total command of the technical aspects of these justifiably popular yet challenging works.

Although she's making a major name for herself on the world's opera stages, Armenian/Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian has chosen her solo-recital repertoire for her two CBC recordings from decidedly non-opera material. The first, Joyous Light (type Q4974 in Search Reviews), featured contemporary arrangements of traditional Armenian liturgical music; now this one focuses on songs from Spain, Brazil, and Argentina. ..
… –David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Conductor Diego Fasolis and his Coro della Radio Svizzera always can be counted on for a very good show, and this one, featuring two well-known if not necessarily top-drawer Handel works, is no exception. The early Dixit Dominus, with its Vivaldian "De torrente in via" movement and other Italian stylistic elements, is appropriately lively and crisply articulated in the fast sections and fully indulgent of the slow passages, allowing us to hear in gorgeous detail the promising signs of Handel's germinating genius.

The Locke Consort musicians are virtuoso soloists and first-rate ensemble players, and all of their skills are challenged in these highly developed, often florid works that are recorded here for the first time–and deservedly so. Audiophile devotees, here's another recording to add to your demonstration-disc shelf; for the rest of you who just love really fine music recorded really well, if you don't already have a demonstration-disc shelf, you'll probably want to make room for one when you hear this.

Beginning with his early decisions regarding the course of his vocal development and running through his selection of roles, repertoire, and recording programs, countertenor Andreas Scholl so far has tended to make effective and purposeful choices. This release featuring 17 English/Scottish/Irish/American folksongs is another success. Although the ambitious chamber orchestra arrangements by Craig Leon (who also produced the recording) sometimes threaten to overwhelm the simplicity–the very essence–of the songs, Scholl’s commanding–make that mesmerizing–way with these tunes and his warm, expressive voice ultimately carry the day and keep us focused on the melodies and their down-to-earth texts. This is possible not only because he loves the music (the program was Scholl’s idea) but because he delivers it so easily and freely, without affectation and in impeccable English.