France Itinéraire Baroque en Périgord, 2024 [4] – L’Iinéraire: Varied Areas, 3.8.2024. (CC)
La Gracieuse: Robert Smith (viola da gamba), Mike Fentross (theorbo). Église Saint-Laurent de Mareuil, 9.30am.
Marais – Suite in A (Guide 2); Suite in G minor (Guide 3, plus ‘La Georgienne dite La Maupertuy’ from Suite No.5); Suite in E minor (Guide 4)
What a strategy to start the 2024 Itinéraire! Robert Smith is essentially the most spectacular of gambists, joined right here by the superb theorbo participant Mike Fentross. Smith’s taking part in is of a purity hardly ever heard on any instrument; his gamba positively sings, one thing actually to the fore within the Prélude to Marais’s Suite in A (from the second ebook of items; all suites are from Marais’s Pièces de viole des Cinq Livres). It’s good to listen to simply with theorbo; Smith’s recording for Resonus Classics contains harpsichord, and an additional gamba for the bassline. The acoustic of Mareuil’s Église Saint-Laurent was excellent; a big area (that is the communal live performance earlier than the viewers is break up up) instantly made intimate. One thing very clear within the opening Prélude of the A minor Suite. The ‘Boutarde’ that follows, stuffed with stopping despatched with preternatural ease by Smith, was properly strong (extra so than on the recording); it’s cruelly brief. ‘La Graceuse’ (the title of Smith’s Resonus disc) follows, stuffed with magical pianissimos earlier than a pleasant remaining dance.
The G minor Suite (from the Third Guide) entertains maximal contrasts: the fantasy of the opening Prélude towards the well-behaved Caprice that follows. Once more, it was the sluggish sections that impressed so deeply, right here a Plainte of supreme longing. The bells of the church ringing the hour had been a part of the journey right here (which solely added to the appeal); as had been Smith’s beautiful, rolled chords on the opening of the ‘added’ motion (‘La Georgenne dite La Maupertay,’ from the G minor Suite of the Fifth Guide).
Lastly, 4 actions from the Suite in E minor from the Fourth Guide, appropriately essentially the most outgoing of the three Suites we heard. The Prélude is sort of a fantasia in itself; it’s certainly adopted by a Fantaisie. However at its coronary heart is a Sarabande à l’epagnol, supremely expressive, with Fentross fantastically delicate to the continuing circulate. And eventually, a shock: the Suite’s eleventh (!) motion, La Biscayenne with particular visitor star soloist Ton Koopman on drum. A pleasant shut.
… again in 2019, by the way, Itinéraire Baroque introduced Moi, Marais!, an acted spectacle together with Marais’s viola da gamba works carried out by Alberto Rasi, with actor/comic Lorenzo Bassotto (overview right here).
And so the Itinéraire started – our little group started with …
Musick for a Whereas: Musica Gloria. Église Saint-Martin de Champeaux, 11am.
H. Purcell – Musick for a Whereas (Oedipus, Z 583); Hornpipe (The Outdated Bachelor, Z 607); Entry Dance & Rondeau, Second act tune (The Fairy Queen, Z 629); When Orpheus (Celestial Music did the Gods Encourage, Z 322; Harpsichord Suite in D: Almand, Corent & Hornpipe, His Solitude, Z 406 (Comes Amoris); Strike the viol, contact the lute (Come, ye sons of artwork, Z 323)
D. Purcell – The Sad Penitent: Sluggish Air
Wordsworth – I Questioned Lonely as a Cloud
Musica Gloria includes Pieter De Praetore (countertenor), Nele Vertommen (oboe/recorder), Anne-Linde Visser (cello/viola da gamba) and Beniamino Paganini (harpsichord/recorder). As you possibly can see, they’re a gifted, multi-instrumentalist lot: this live performance was an affirmation of the enjoyment youth can convey to music making. Their discs have already introduced Musica Gloria as an imaginative group (Corelli and Handel: Musical Encounters in Rome and Fasch’s Oboe are those I’m aware of).
Starting with Musick for a Whereas is courageous – one in every of Purcell’s most well-known items, if not his most well-known. There was a component of theatre about this efficiency, the musicians making themselves recognized to us one after the other. Pieter De Praetare has a stunning voice, his management on the separated statements of the phrase ‘all’ was wonderful, as was his ornamented model of the opening part on its repeat.
The music was completely chosen: a sprightly Hornpipe from The Outdated Bachelor, and two excerpts the pièce du semaine, The Fairy Queen: The BBC Promenade efficiency on August 6 from Les Arts Florissant, a Purcell/hip-hop mélange, was unforgettable, and naturally there was the efficiency at Thaxted by the Armonico Consort and Gamers this 12 months (overview right here). All of this renewal of curiosity in non-Dido works is to be welcomed (while not forgetting the genius of that seminal work). The 2 excerpts right here, a noble Entry Dance and gracious Rondeau, with some splendidly managed oboe taking part in from Nele Vertommen.
The music ‘When Orpheus’ (from Celestial Music did the Gods Encourage, Z 322) once more had a component of theatre, which solely served to underline the heart-breaking nature of the music.
A procession of instrumental items (kind a Harpsichord Suite and extra Fairy Queen) led to the one piece by Henry’s brother, Daniel Purcell (c.1664-1717), a stunning piece that includes Vertommen. The Wordsworth poem was recited in French earlier than the laden ‘Oh, Solitude’, De Praetere at his most touching (that is one in every of Purcell’s most interesting songs, with echoes of when Dido’s sigs of ‘Ah, Belinda’ from the opera Dido and Aeneas). One other Fairy Queen ‘entr’acte’ earlier than the completely infectious Strike the viol from Come ye sons of artwork (a birthday ode for Queen Mary).
Doubtless, Musica Gloria deserves each success. They invigorate this music past examine.
Dios y Hombre: Cantoría (Jorge Losana, director/tenor). Église de Saint Entrance sur Nizonne, 12.15pm.
Flecha – Cancinero de Barcelone (excerpts); Fantasia qu contraze e harpa di Ludovico; Las Ensaladas de Flecha
Guerrero – El toro; La bomba
Mudarra – Prado verde y florido; O Virgen cuando os miro; Si tus penas no pruebo: Huyd, huyd o ciegos amadores
This live performance was subtitled ‘Polyphonic Vocal music of the Spanish Renaissance’. The Spanish vocal ensemble Cantoría has already issued one disc of music by Flecha, entitled Ensaladas, on Editions Ambronay: there it was 4 voices solely (Inés Alonso soprano, Oriol Guimerà alto, Jorge Losana tenor & creative director and Valentín Miralles bass); right here there was a change of bass (to Víctor Cruz) and the group was augmented by Pablo FitzGerald on vihuela.
Mateo Flecha (‘El Viejo’, c.1481-1553) was a Catalan composer; Francesco Guerrero (1528-1599) Andalusian. The extra religious songs of Guerrero distinction with the concentrated expression of Flecha. The primary piece, ‘Los reyes siguen la estrella’, set the stall for Flecha’s music in its very unpredictability, coupled with an actual dramatic aptitude; the lullaby that adopted confirmed a really completely different facet. All through, although, there was the purity of strategy and assault from Cantoría, blissfully low, usually freed from, vibrato. Rhythms dance with this group, and the way in which they sing implies what we hear is the results of an extended journey from manuscript to vibrant life.
For the entire excellence of Flecha and Guerrero, it was the vihuela music of Alonso Mudarra (1510-1580) that impressed essentially the most, maybe most within the virtually chorale-like O Virgen. A composer to discover, for certain.
Cantoría are excellent ambassadors of this repertoire; this was a live performance to relish. Wit met profundity; the outcome touched the soul.
La Naissance de l’Air baroque: Johannette Zomer (soprano), Mike Fenross (theorbo). Église Saint-Martin de Saint-Félix de Bourdelles, 3.15pm.
Monteverdi – Laudate Domnum
Frescobaldi –Se l’aura spira
Kapsberger – Toccata; Già risi del mio mai
Constantijn Huygens – Le réveil de Calliste (Aubade)
Caccini – Amarilli mia bella
Nicholas Lanier – No extra shall meads be deck’d with flowers
From Frische Lust-Hof (1621 ebook of fashionable Netherlandish songs): Goddine, wiens minne
H. Purcell – Music for a Whereas
Statistically, not each live performance in a day reminiscent of this can be of equal excellence. The skilled soprano is clearly one thing of a linguist (she sang fluently and convincingly in Italian, French, English and Dutch), however her voice is a bit drained She was upstaged considerably by the passion of her theorbist Mike Fentross (who we met what appeared by this stage a very long time in the past, however was really solely at 9.30 that morning). Zomer’s recordings are finer than what we heard right here; the Monteverdi lacked simply the final ounce of rhythmic flamboyance; on the different finish of the recital, Purcell’s ‘Music for a Whereas’ paled compared to the Musica Gloria efficiency.
What had been beautiful was the poignant Dutch music Goddine, wiens minne, and Huygenss’ Le reveil de Calliste, and Lanier’s No extra shall meads be deck’d with flowers was fully convincing in its magnificence (and who doesn’t like the concept of a rosy bower?).
It was although great to listen to a Toccata by Kapsberger on theorbo, complemented by a uncommon outing for one in every of his songs. Sadly, not the best live performance of the day.
Entre l’Ange et la Bête: Catalina Vicens (organetto, optimistic organ). Église Saint-Jean Baptiste de Puyrénier, 4.30pm.
Whereas there was a listed programme for this lecture-recital, the musicologist and performer Catalina Vicens as a substitute introduced a clutch of items introducing her instrument, the organetto (it seems a bit like an accordion) and the optimistic organ. The occasion title refers to drawings discovered within the marginalia of books of the time.
If you wish to get an thought of the extraordinary sounds of this live performance, strive Vicens’s exceptional disc An Outdated Corridor Ladymass on the 2L label, the place she is joined by Trio Mediæval. The music is unusual, haunting, trendy but timeless. Maybe most extraordinary was her efficiency of Machaut’s Dame, vostre doulz viaire, an expressive melody towards a drone (curiously, vibrato was used to extend emotion).
As well as, we heard some music for the optimistic organ from the Florentine courtroom, plus an improvisation on Hildegard’s music. The entire occasion was spellbinding. Vicens is a charming narrator (it was primarily in French, with parts translated by Vicens into English).
Music on the Court docket of Ommeyades: Les Aromates. Château de Connezac, 6pm.
The ultimate live performance happened not in a church however at a château (and a really good one, at that); it was additionally exterior. This was very outdoorsy music: the group Les Aromates includes percussion (Michèle Claude), flutes (Isabelle Duval), violin (Baptiste Frugier), viola (Lou Deschamps), double bass (Julien Blanchard) and lute/vihuela (Jonathan Lemarquand). We had been transported through music to the courts of the Caliphs of Spain. Maybe appropriately, it was baking scorching within the solar.
The music encompassed gypsy flamenco, and music from North Africa and the Center East, together with Sephardic sounds. The sound is exceptional, the rhythms infectious. If you wish to hear what the group seems like, strive their Alpha disc Rayon de Lune, though keep in mind that could be a studio-cleansed model of what we heard in France. Stay, there’s vibrant electrical energy in every single place – I’m genuinely shocked no-one received as much as dance. To listen to Les Aromates is an exciting expertise. Every member is a virtuoso, and every member (pardon the pun) received his personal second within the solar. They do extroversion and so they do tenderness with equal ease. For my tastes, and purely for my tastes, there was reasonably an excessive amount of of an excellent factor, however I think I could possibly be within the minority there.
Colin Clarke
