Viva 2007

Alexander Alexandrovich Alyabiev (1787-1851) is beyond any doubt the greatest Russian Musician of his generation (before Glinka). Why, then is he not known better ? Well…his life reads like a novel ; an officer with the imperial army, he was contaminated by liberal ideas in Paris in 1812 and got close to the Decembrist's movement, which got him condemned in the 20ies and deported to Siberia a few years later. He there mixes and confronts Caucasian and « white » music (several decades before Borodin espouses the idea) and finally gets back to Moscow in 1843, in pretty poor health.

In the early seventies, the British-American group Carmen broke new ground in rock music, combining the British flair for progressive rock with traditional Spanish folk themes into a very fresh, energetic and powerful new mix. The sound is centered around guitar, keyboards are used subtly but to good effect. On the whole, they are a rather hard band to describe… Some vague comparisons could be made to Jethro Tull, Mezquita (some of the Spanish themes), and Triana (the flamenco/prog combination).

Sammartini had a long and active musical career, working as maestro di cappella or organist in as many as ten different churches, yet surprisingly few of his sacred compositions survive. In the sacred cantata Gerusalemme sconoscente ingrata, set to a text from another of his cantatas, La perfidia giudaica nella SS. Passione di Gesù Cristo, vocal texture is dominated by a typically Italianate melodiousness and virtuosity, while the orchestral writing is full of daring harmonies, sparkling themes, and an inexhaustible wealth of ideas.

Amon Düül ll's extraordinary 1973 album finds the influential German art rock band working surprisingly well in a short song format while still stamping the music with their unique sound. "Fly United," "Trap," and "Ladies Mimikry" show diverse styles of pop and rock running happily into each other with memorably quirky results. The instrumentation here is as quirky as ever,too – perhaps even more so than usual, with Chris Karrer's violin and sax playing now in the fore. The melodies are often shimmering. Unfortunately, the band never again sustained the excellence displayed on Viva la Trance again.

Along with his contemporaries, Mozart was often called upon to fulfil the aristocracy's musical requests destined for all kinds of society events. He, for sure, knew how to provide a much profounder dimension to any genre which did not normally have too many expectations placed upon it and the Gran Partita, without losing its playful aim, is a superb example of this. In a similar way, the Divertimentos of Martín y Soler on Una cosa rara, and of Went on Die Entführung aus dem Serail, fill out an accurate portrait of what was, in the 18th century, music meant for noble entertainment.

Although not the owner of conventional high-level vocal skills, Bardot invested her frivolous songs with a contagious sense of playful fun, and a refusal to take the music or herself too seriously. Certainly some of the tunes – and their breathy delivery – capitalize on her iconic sex kitten persona. But the guileless joy she projects is reminiscent of some of the early work by France Gall (one of the finest '60s French pop singers), though Bardot's voice is less girlish and more adult in tone.