Guillaume de Machaut (c.1300-1377)

[San Antone]

I'd never listened to any Machaut before. Got this 4-CD package cheaply from (the soon to be defunct) Berkshire Record Outlet and am enjoying it (although one of the Le remède de fortune discs is a puny 28 minutes).


While I was at it I got a recording including Messe Nostre Dame by Ensemble Obsidienne which I'm still digesting, no firm opinion yet.

I didn't know that they had collected into one box the four Marc Mauillon recordings.  Nice.  His version of the La Remède de Fortune and the other narrative works, are the best, IMO, not only because they are complete, but his overall interpretation and approach is excellent and accurate historically.

I'm not a fan of the Ensemble Obsidienne mass, YMMV, mainly because they take liberties with the style appropriate for the period and composer, and the use of female voices in this music is not what I want.

Better recordings of the mass are by Diabolus in Musica/Antoine Gerber, Ensemble Organum/Marcel Pérès, Ensemble Gilles Binchois/Dominique Vellard, (If you can find it) Mary Berry, and for the somewhat outlander but very enjoyable, Graindelavoix/Björn Schmelzer.

[Mandryka]

I'd never listened to any Machaut before. Got this 4-CD package cheaply from (the soon to be defunct) Berkshire Record Outlet and am enjoying it (although one of the Le remède de fortune discs is a puny 28 minutes).


While I was at it I got a recording including Messe Nostre Dame by Ensemble Obsidienne which I'm still digesting, no firm opinion yet.

When Mauillon sings in the complainte it's astonishing, unbelievable really. And the lay. Bonnardot has a lovely voice and I love it when he sings solo. When it's with Obsidienne it always sounds to me like a bunch of young Christian scouts round a camp fire.

[T. D.]

Want to reiterate how much I'm enjoying the Mauillon recordings, terrific singing. I need to invest more time listening with libretto in hand (stressful due to small print in the booklet  ).

So far the Obsidienne masses (incl. Josquin) are disappointing. I liked brief youtube sound samples, but am not getting into the recordings at home. Their Chansons and Estampies (various composers) are more enjoyable IMO.

[Iota]

Fwiw, I had a brief listen to Le Remède de Fortune as a result of this conversation, and found Mauillon's singing immediately engaging too. Will return later.

[Que]

I'd never listened to any Machaut before. Got this 4-CD package cheaply from (the soon to be defunct) Berkshire Record Outlet and am enjoying it (although one of the Le remède de fortune discs is a puny 28 minutes).

I tried some of this set as well, andd had mixed feelings... Firstly, Maullion's tenor-bariton voice is absolutely wonderfull. But that is all you get: this is a lot of Mauillon. I definitely prefer a mixed group of male and female (!) voices. Secondly, the broad, sweeping style in which Machaut's music is sung by Mauillon is veering towards "folksy" and is underplaying the complexity and the quirky, rhythmic characteristics of Ars Nova. I recall Mandryka calling this "vulgarity" before. It is a rather single minded approach - it this case literally...

I'm not a fan of the Ensemble Obsidienne mass, YMMV, mainly because they take liberties with the style appropriate for the period and composer, and the use of female voices in this music is not what I want.

Better recordings of the mass are by Diabolus in Musica/Antoine Gerber, Ensemble Organum/Marcel Pérès, Ensemble Gilles Binchois/Dominique Vellard, (If you can find it) [...]

Seconded.

[Mandryka]

I tried some of this set as well, andd had mixed feelings... Firstly, Maullion's tenor-bariton voice is absolutely wonderfull. But that is all you get: this is a lot of Mauillon. I definitely prefer a mixed group of male and female (!) voices. Secondly, the broad, sweeping style in which Machaut's music is sung by Mauillon is veering towards "folksy" and is underplaying the complexity and the quirky, rhythmic characteristics of Ars Nova. I recall Mandryka calling this "vulgarity" before. It is a rather single minded approach - it this case literally...

He  does croon a bit in the complainte and  maybe in Loyauté que point ne delay which is by my standards a bit vulgar. He has an accompaniment and there are othr singers (Angelique Mauillon - he's kept it in the family!) so it's not really single minded.

[Mandryka]

Listening to, and really enjoying, Andrea von Ramm sing Loyauté que point ne delay, in the old Binkey set. I prefer this to both Mauillon and Bonnardot.

[Que]

[...] there are othr singers (Angelique Mauillon - he's kept it in the family!) so it's not really single minded.

You're right off course, strictly speaking. Still.... 

[San Antone]

Listening to this,



A feast of poetry, song, and visual art animated by a surprisingly Zen-like philosophy, Guillaume de Machaut's Remede de Fortune tells the tale of a woebegone lover who is counseled by Lady Hope on how to be happy and persevere in the face of the ups and downs dished out by Fortune and her Wheel. Machaut was at once the greatest poet and composer of 14th-century Europe, and the Remede is a narrative poem or dit, around 4000 lines long, with interpolated lyrics set to music. This live recording of a concert production of the Remede—a collaboration between two outstanding American ensembles, Blue Heron and Les Délices—includes all seven musical items from the Remede as well as a selection of other motets, songs, and dances, which take the place of the narration, express the emotions and thoughts of the Lover, and convey Hope's teachings in lyric form. Four singers are joined by a delightful ensemble of medieval instruments (recorder, douçaine, fiddle, lute, harp, hurdy-gurdy, and percussion) in performances which are both spirited and deeply informed by the study of historical performance practices. (Blue Heron website)

Welcome addition to the Machaut catelog.