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
Unforgivable to leave Mir i Llussà to moulder in the cobwebby annals
of 18th century masters of Iberia.