 |
|
|
alternatively
CD: MDT
AmazonUK
AmazonUS
|
Josep MIR I LLUSSÀ (c.1700-1764)
Missa a 8 in D, for solo voices, choir and orchestra (1760) [30:12]
Stabat Mater in G minor, for double choir and continuo (1756) [8:44]
Quomodo Obscurantum est - Lamentation II del Dissabte Sant, for
tenor and orchestra (1753) [11:14]
Lauda Jerusalem - Psalm in A minor, for double choir and orchestra
[8:36]
Lluís Vilamajó (tenor)
La Xantria/Pere Lluís Biosca
Vespres d'Arnadí/Dani Espasa
rec. Auditori Municipal, Vilafranca del Penedès, Spain, 28
November - 2 December 2010 and 26 January 2011. DDD
MUSIÈPOCA MEPCD-004 [58:46]
|
|
|
This is the second recording by the Catalonia-based period
ensemble Vespres d'Arnadí under Dani Espasa on the new
Catalan label Musièpoca. It follows a superb debut -
one of the finest releases of 2011, indeed - that featured the
music of French Baroque composer Charles Desmazures - see review.
Like that CD, this one is beautifully designed, recorded and
performed. Executive producers and label management Pere Saragossa
and Dani Espasa, together with graphic designer Rosa Gomis,
deserve a mention in this review for their excellent production.
Catalan Josep Mir i Llussà was a partial contemporary
of Desmazures, a generation-and-a-bit younger, though their
paths did not cross. Mir i Llussà spent most of his life
in Spain, working at Segovia, Valladolid and finally Madrid
by royal appointment. Mir i Llussà's music attractively
blends a modern approach with deliberately archaic elements
- nowhere more so than in the lugubriously beautiful Stabat
Mater. It brims with captivating melody, rhythmic vitality and
carefully wrought textures evocatively coloured by the period
instruments of Vespres d'Arnadí, whose members are drawn
from the likes of Les Talens Lyriques, Le Concert des Nations
and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.
Of the great masters it is probably Vivaldi whose sacred music
is most often suggested, especially in the great Missa a 8,
yet Mir i Llussà has his own distinct voice. This is
splendidly brought to life by those of La Xantria, under Pere
Lluís Biosca, and by tenor Lluís Vilamajó
in some expressive solos. Vespres d'Arnadí support the
singers at all times with exquisite attention to period detail
and superb musicianship.
Notes and biographies are provided in the booklet in Catalan,
Spanish, English and German, although the track-listing and
performer information is only given in Catalan. The translation
into English is rendered with a heavy foreign accent that sometimes
borders on unintelligible, not helped by several spelling mistakes
and/or technical mistranslations - "gallant" for 'galant', "continuous
bass" for 'basso continuo', "moans" for "lamentations". Sung
texts are provided at the back, albeit in Latin only. The booklet
itself is glued by its back page to the digipak case.
On the evidence of this CD, it is unforgivable to leave Mir
i Llussà to moulder in the cobwebby annals of 18th century
masters of Iberia. Espasa and company - ensemble and label -
deserve great credit for resurrecting this music in such an
attractive package. Translations aside, the only criticism that
can really be made is that another twenty minutes' worth of
it all could have been included.
Byzantion
Collected reviews and contact at reviews.gramma.co.uk
|
|
