This alluringly designed CD extends its charms to
what we see and what we hear. Christina Pluhar’s essay in the
de-luxe booklet bound into the disc case is prefaced with the words
“The sea does not separate cultures, it connects them”.
That aptly sets the scene. The sea in question is the Mediterranean.
A quibble: while Portuguese players and music are included Portugal
does not have a Mediterranean coastline.
More significantly, the music is made by an ensemble using a varying
collage of instruments and voices. Traditional plucked instruments of
the Mediterranean region play a signal role here: qanun, saz, Greek
lyre and lavta, oud and Portuguese guitar. The arrangements
feel
impeccably authentic and are always airily yet closely done. The range
is marked out by what sound like unfiltered folk influences and by an
aftertaste of medieval balladry. There is nothing fusty here and the
playing and singing wear their sophistication lightly.
We range from the Fado tradition, referenced by Misia, through the whirling
Greek acceleration of
Hasapiko to the wayward charms of the Turkish
Hicaz mandira and the wild-eyed
Pizzica di San Vito. The
instrumentation is kaleidoscopically varied with much play from guitar,
harpsichord and psaltery. Breathily seductive singing meets what feels
like a sinuous Moroccan sway in
Amygdalaki tsakisa and
Thalassa
lypisou. The Catalonian song
La dama d’Arago is cool
and lithe. The steadily paced singing by Nuria Rial recalls that of
Netania Davrath in the Canteloube Auvergne songs. A similar effect rises
from the pages of the Mallorcan song
De Santanyi vaig partir.
The sensuously smoky voice of Misia returns for
Rosa Negra,
O
Pajem and for
Amor De Mel which might easily have escaped
from a Jacques Brel concert. It does have a hint of Piaf too but blended
with the sort of guttural vitality to be heard in the most throat-rasping
singing in
El Amor Brujo. The improvisation
Gunes & ay
for qanun and saz (two guitar-like instruments) almost breaks concentration
with bluesy elements spun into the fabric; the same goes for
Sfessania.
Vincenzo Capezzuto’s glorious voice adapts like a chameleon to
the variegated language. He can be heard in duet with trumpet in
Agapimu.
There is a bonus DVD included in the de-luxe edition with tracks for
Are mou Rindineddha,
Sem saber,
Hasapiko,
Tres
sirenas and a
Mediterraneo trailer.
This disc is a follow-up to L'Arpeggiata and Christina Pluhar’s
Virgin Classics issue:
Los
Pajaros Perdidos-
The South American Project.
It comes in two versions: de-luxe and not. My description relates to
the former.
Feel the heat and the cool in an anthology that treats these lovely
blooms with respect. Nothing of the jealous scholar or the ivory turret
here - only a renewing vibrant charm.
Rob Barnett
Performer details
Soloists
Mísia - Fado (Portugal)
Nuria Rial (soprano) (Catalonia)
Raquel
Andueza (soprano) (Spain)
Vincenzo Capezzuto (voice) (Italy)
Katerina
Papadopoulou (voice) (Greece)
Daniel Pinto (Portuguese guitar) (Portugal)
Sandro Daniel Fado (guitar) (Portugal)
Sokratis Sinopoulos (lyra) (Greece)
Nikolaos Mermigkas (lavta) (Greece)
Aytaç Dogan (qanun) (Turkey)
Ismail Tunçbilek (saz) (Turkey)
L`Arpeggiata
Christina Pluhar (theorbo)
Doron Sherwin (cornet à bouquin)
Margit Übellacker (psaltery)
Sarah Ridy (baroque harp)
Marcello Vitale (baroque guitar, chitarra battente)
Quito Gato (guitar)
David Mayoral (percussion)
Francesco Turrisi (harpsichord)
Boris Schmidt (double bass)
Full Tracklisting:-
1 Are mou Rindineddha 4:36
Traditional, Canto greco-salentino
Vincenzo Capezzuto, Katerina Papadopoulou
2 Sem saber 3:26
Vasco Graça Moura/Carlos Paredes, Portugal
Mísia
3 Hasapiko 2:18
Traditional, Greece
4 Tres sirenas 3:42
Anon., Neapolitan/Greek/Spanish
Vincenzo Capezzuto, Katerina Papadopoulou, Raquel Andueza
5 Hicâz mandira 4:42
Sultan Abdülaziz, Turkey
6 Pizzica di San Vito 2:20
Traditional, Salento
Vincenzo Capezzuto
7 Amygdalaki tsakisa 4:19
Traditional, Greece
Katerina Papadopoulou
8 La dama d’Aragó 3:40
Traditional, Catalonia
Nuria Rial
9 Amor de mel, amor de fel 3:06
Amália Rodrigues/Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal
Mísia
10 Günes & ay 3:37
Improvisation on qanun & saz, Turkey
Aytaç Dogan & Ismail Tunçbilek
11 De Santanyí vaig partir 3:54
Traditional, Mallorca
Nuria Rial
12 Rosa negra no meu peito (Fado Corrido) 2:44
Mísia/Fado Corrido, Portugal
Mísia
13 Thalassa lypisou 3:34
Traditional/Panayiotis Tountas, Greece
Katerina Papadopoulou
14 Oriamu Pisulina 3:06
Traditional, Canto greco-salentino
Vincenzo Capezzuto, Katerina Papadopoulou
15 O pájem 3:29
Fernando Teles/Alfredo Marceneiro, Portugal
Mísia
16 Sfessania 2:58
Improvisation, Salento
Marcello Vitale
17 Agapimu fidela protini 3:08
Traditional, Canto greco-salentino
Vincenzo Capezzuto
18 Cantigas de portugueses (Fado Magala) 2:58
Fernando Pessoa/Raul Portela (‘Fado Magala’), Portugal
Mísia
19 Los delfines 4:30
Diego Pisador, Spain
Raquel Andueza
