I have about 15 Jordi Savall/Hesperion albums but I'm looking to expand a bit. I love everything I've heard Savall touch but there's so many albums that he's been involved with.
Any particular ones I should look for?
I particularly love the Carlos V and Lully discs.
I am several plays through his Handel WATER/FIREWORKS disc, and I think it is the snacks. I would recommend that one disc to anyone.
Also I would shortlist:
1. J.S. Bach: ART OF FUGUE
2. Couperin PIECES DE VIOLES 1728
3. El Cant de la Sibil-La (I have two Alia Vox discs, Mallorca/Valencia and Catalunya....it looks like Naive just reissued a disc with a variation of this title but I haven't looked into what it's about...I think it might be an old Astree title: ASIN B00CMSP1GG).
My personal favourites are:
1. La Folia 1490-1701.
2. Boccherini: Fandango, Sinfonie & La Musica Notturna di Madrid.
3. Don Quijote De La Mancha - Romances Y Músicas.
Quote from: Octave on December 16, 2013, 02:27:11 AM
I am several plays through his Handel WATER/FIREWORKS disc, and I think it is the snacks. I would recommend that one disc to anyone.
Of all the Christmas gifts I've given my mom over the years, the Savall Handel Water Music might be her favorite. And with good reason.
If you want to explore music of non-western European cultures, "Istanbul" is a masterpiece and I'm about to order "Balkan Spirit," "The Spirit of Syria," and the Turkish vocal album.
Quote from: GuybrushThreepwood on December 16, 2013, 04:10:12 AM
My personal favourites are:
1. La Folia 1490-1701.
This, and his OTHER (http://www.amazon.com/Altre-Follie-Jordi-Savall/dp/B000BO87PA/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1387201321&sr=1-4&keywords=Savall+folia) folia disc. Both amazing.
Of course I must include the Santa Rameau (http://www.amazon.com/Rameau-LOrchestre-Louis-Concert-Nations/dp/B004YG8FA8/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1387201497&sr=1-1&keywords=Savall+Rameau) disc. (see avatar ;D )
Quote from: Octave on December 16, 2013, 02:27:11 AM
I am several plays through his Handel WATER/FIREWORKS disc, and I think it is the snacks. I would recommend that one disc to anyone.
Listened to this today, great stuff indeed!
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51rwuw%2BTzfL._SX300_.jpg)
If you don't already have it.
My three favorites:
- The best ever Seven Last Words by Haydn, both the CD and DVD
- Boccherini Fandango
- Mozart Serenata notturna & Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Those will do to get on with, I think. :)
8)
Quote from: Gurn Blanston on December 16, 2013, 07:09:20 AM
- The best ever Seven Last Words by Haydn, both the CD and DVD
8)
Yes! I forgot about that one. (shame on me ??? )
And a DVD? I didn't know about that... now I do. (http://www.amazon.com/Haydn-Seven-Words-Christ-Cross/dp/B002NCUF08/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1387210888&sr=8-2&keywords=haydn+savall) Christmas gift to myself ;D [/list]
Quote from: Todd on December 16, 2013, 07:20:23 AM
Outstanding in every conceivable way.
Thanks for the reminder!
Quote from: TheGSMoeller on December 16, 2013, 07:23:47 AM
Yes! I forgot about that one. (shame on me ??? )
And a DVD? I didn't know about that... now I do. (http://www.amazon.com/Haydn-Seven-Words-Christ-Cross/dp/B002NCUF08/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1387210888&sr=8-2&keywords=haydn+savall) Christmas gift to myself ;D [/list]
Great idea!
I forgot this, perhaps my favorite set of English Consort music, ever:
[asin]B000065VX6[/asin]
What do the Bach lovers think of his B minor mass?
Quote from: Mandryka on December 16, 2013, 09:52:08 AM
What do the Bach lovers think of his B minor mass?
What, you don't want to know what
Gurn thinks of it?
(j/k)
Quote from: elotito on December 15, 2013, 08:01:18 PM
I have about 15 Jordi Savall/Hesperion albums but I'm looking to expand a bit. I love everything I've heard Savall touch but there's so many albums that he's been involved with.
Any particular ones I should look for?
His music making is often too too lush and beautiful. There's something very conservative and middlebrow about some of Savall's style, the sort of thing that fits well on popular classic FM stations.
Sometimes I find what he does emotionally monochromatic (colour melancholy) and that's a killer -- the Purcell viol fantasias and Couperin Viol duos are an example.
My favourite Savall record is Alfons V El Magnànim: El Cancionero De Montecassino, with a stunning piece by Du Fay called Vene Sante Spiritus. I also liked Musical Offering and Brandenburg 6. There's also Marais -- Gout D'Etranger.
Sometimes I'm just not interested in the style. His CD of Songs from Catalunya reminds remind me of the 1970s when I used to go to folk music bars. I'm just not into that stuff any more. .
I totally disagree with Mandryka.
I think Savall is one of the essential names in Early Music during the last 35 years. As a gamba player and researcher on his instrument, very, very few alive musicians are in the same league. Maybe Philippe Pierlot and Wieland Kuijken, but just maybe.
Never when I have listened to any of his gamba recordings (both solo & consort), the word "mellifluous" has come to mind.
I don't enjoy to the same extent his "comercial" projects intended to sell some kind of cultural diversity: Hispania & Japan; Armenian Spirit, Balkan and so. But it's just me because in the middle there is a lot of great instrumental music to enjoy, without commercial, programmatic or political purposes.
These two recent reissues are EXCELLENT:
[asin]B00DNDR8W4[/asin]
[asin]B00FJAKW18[/asin]
:)
One Savall CD I do find myself going back to is Musical Offering. It's tinged with a sort of sadness which I don't hear so much in other performances, and I quite like that now and then.
Another one I like is Brandenburg 6. And I also remember enjoying a DVD of Monteverdi's Orfeo. And years ago I used to play his Eroica a lot.
But it's in earlier music that I value him the most, especially in the early recordings he made for EMI, I remember a nice one of the Libre Vermell, and excellent one of music for women troubadours, and a wonderful one of music for Spanish Kings (I especially enjoyed the CD of sacred music n that set.) There's also those magical Cds of sephardic music - Sybil La. (Am I wrong? - it is Jewish music isn't it? )
The Dowland that Gordo mentioned, I remember discussing it here with someone before. I'm not convinced he finds all the emotional variety that Dowland demands in the preface to the Lachrimae: it's just like a bunch of sad sad bits of music, and that's not what the Lachrimae are about at all. Hving said that, it's hard to find a better commercially available performance - we'll have to wait for Les Voix Humaines to record it, or make do with the uncommercial recording by Schola Cantorum Basilensis.
The last time I explored a lot of Savall was when someone was asking me to recommend a recordimg of Marais' Sonnerie de Sainte Geneviève du Mont de Paris, Savall recorded it in the (excellent) Tous Les Matins du Monde CD. It's a gorgeous performance, typically polished and refined music making performed to a really high technical and poetic standard, very inspired. Harnoncourt recorded it too.
Quote from: Mandryka on December 16, 2013, 09:13:20 PM
But it's in earlier music that I value him the most, especially in the early recordings he made for EMI, I remember a nice one of the Libre Vermell, and excellent one of music for women troubadours, and a wonderful one of music for Spanish Kings (I especially enjoyed the CD of sacred music n that set.) There's also those magical Cds of sephardic music - Sybil La. (Am I wrong? - it is Jewish music isn't it? )
The last time I explored a lot of Savall was when someone was asking me to recommend a recordimg of Marais' Sonnerie de Sainte Geneviève du Mont de Paris, Savall recorded it in the (excellent) Tous Les Matins du Monde CD. It's a gorgeous performance, typically polished and refined music making performed to a really high technical and poetic standard, very inspired. Harnoncourt recorded it too.
Sybil-La is, I think, Catalan music. The two CDs I have of his Sefardic music (actually a double CD combined by Alia Vox under the title
Diaspora Sefardi) are
Por que llorax blanca nina and
Las estrellas de los cielos. The first is vocal, the second all instrumental. They are quite good, but not really superior to other recordings of Sefardic music I have by
La Roza Enflorese. If Savall's recordings interest you, check them out; they have a website with, I think, samples available. I assume his folk/quasi folk music recordings would be of the same quality, although I don't have them.
I think your comment on the melancholy of Savall's music making is borne out by the selection of ballads he used on
Por que llorax....--almost all of them have depressing texts, which is not a true representation of Sefardic music.
La Roza Enflorese's CDs have a better mixture of moods.
I don't have a number of the CDs that have been mentioned, but of what I do have, I would suggest his Bach recordings in general, his Marais recordings, and his recordings of medieval Spanish music. Also his Boccherini and Vivaldi CDs are very good.
Recognizing that we're veering into "name every recording" territory, and that I haven't heard most of the other suggestions, I have to mention the Biber Battalia and Requiem disc:
[asin]B00006RGMP[/asin]
In fact, this thread is evidence that Savall is an artist of excellent caliber, since he seems able to produce music of diverse kinds that appeals to diverse people.
Thanks everyone, lots of good suggestions here.
Do you have the Purcell Fantasias? If not, make that disc your next purchase.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511sGYC8CZL.jpg)
You can't go wrong with anything Savall's, but I especially love these:
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51dR3T0exqL._SX300_.jpg)(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CwrOf50EL._SY300_.jpg)(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51APNtLwLrL._SY300_.jpg)(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/615cfl1XxZL._SL500_AA280_.jpg)(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61Sv1sh35tL._SL500_AA280_.jpg)(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NNrnSMplL._SX300_.jpg)
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on December 17, 2013, 06:39:18 AM
Sybil-La is, I think, Catalan music.
He has 3 different releases with the
Song of the Sybil, each taken from different manuscripts and labeled based on their geographical origin (7 in total). The first release on Alia Vox with the Valencia and Mallorca versions is a favorite of mine... And it has, as an intermission track, what is, possibly, to me, the most beautiful piece of music ever written, in an absolute jewel of a performance (but I am repeating myself here):
http://www.youtube.com/v/tEcWniITE7o
And I just counted, I have (gasp) 112 releases by Savall...
The soundtrack to
Tous les matins du monde gives a good idea of the "Savall sound". Other favorites already listed are the two Folia releases. But all of them are good in one way or another.
Quote from: petrarch on December 23, 2013, 12:53:58 PM
He has 3 different releases with the Song of the Sybil, each taken from different manuscripts and labeled based on their geographical origin (7 in total). The first release on Alia Vox with the Valencia and Mallorca versions is a favorite of mine... And it has, as an intermission track, what is, possibly, to me, the most beautiful piece of music ever written, in an absolute jewel of a performance (but I am repeating myself here):
http://www.youtube.com/v/tEcWniITE7o
And I just counted, I have (gasp) 112 releases by Savall...
The soundtrack to Tous les matins du monde gives a good idea of the "Savall sound". Other favorites already listed are the two Folia releases. But all of them are good in one way or another.
That would be this one, correct?
[asin]B0002XNM64[/asin]
If the Amazon listings are correct, this was number three, and the Catalan version was the first.
[asin]B004DY5B1M[/asin]
Which Naive has seen fit to reissue in its latest batch of budget re-issues--with, I assume, the original mastering and not the remastering Alia Vox seems to do with all its issues.
[asin]B00CMSP1GG[/asin]
Amazon being Amazon, you have to open up the back cover image to figure out which installment of the series it actually is.
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on December 23, 2013, 07:34:21 PM
That would be this one, correct?
[asin]B0002XNM64[/asin]
If the Amazon listings are correct, this was number three,
Correct.
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on December 23, 2013, 07:34:21 PM
and the Catalan version was the first.
Correct, the Catalan (/Latin/Provençal) version was the first.
(http://santiago.defi.pl/images/muzyka/sibil1.jpg)
The second was Galicia/Castilla:
(http://santiago.defi.pl/images/muzyka/sibil2.jpg)
Quote from: Mandryka on December 16, 2013, 09:13:20 PM
The Dowland that Gordo mentioned, I remember discussing it here with someone before. I'm not convinced he finds all the emotional variety that Dowland demands in the preface to the Lachrimae: it's just like a bunch of sad sad bits of music, and that's not what the Lachrimae are about at all. Hving said that, it's hard to find a better commercially available performance - we'll have to wait for Les Voix Humaines to record it, or make do with the uncommercial recording by Schola Cantorum Basilensis.
Apparently, it exists a better alternative for the
Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares, superbly performed by the Dowland Consort (Jakob Lindberg) on Bis.
It's available on Spotify.
[asin]B0000016CC[/asin]
Quote from: Gordo on December 29, 2013, 09:18:45 PM
Apparently, it exists a better alternative for the Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares, superbly performed by the Dowland Consort (Jakob Lindberg) on Bis.
It's available on Spotify.
[asin]B0000016CC[/asin]
Yes I enjoyed that one. From the point of view of expression I liked was from Capella De Ministrers too. But the set of lachrimae I've played most isn't on CD unfortunately, recorded for DHM in 1962, from Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Viol Quintet. I can let you have the files if you're interested.
An item page with cheaper prices for the Lindberg (on AmazonUS, at least)
[asin]B000027ESH[/asin]
Lindberg recorded all of Dowland's solo lute works; you can find it as a set from BIS or a reissue from Brilliant.
As a sort of returning the thread to topic relevancy, it may be noted that Presto is currently running a sale on Alia Vox, although I have not yet compared prices with Amazon, etc.
Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on December 30, 2013, 06:59:47 PM
As a sort of returning the thread to topic relevancy, it may be noted that Presto is currently running a sale on Alia Vox, although I have not yet compared prices with Amazon, etc.
I just saw this too. I think the prices are fairly good, though if better are available that would be nice. My Presto shopping cart has 13 Alia Vox CDs right now... and Presto already sent me the Syria, Balkan, and Sublime Porte albums.
Quote from: Brian on December 30, 2013, 07:32:42 PM
Presto already sent me the Syria, Balkan, and Sublime Porte albums.
Syria?
Quote from: petrarch on December 31, 2013, 04:40:55 AM
Syria?
It just came out a couple weeks ago.
[asin]B00EJQT83Q[/asin]
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81Bg2zquo2L._SL1200_.jpg)
Quote from: Brian on December 31, 2013, 07:24:52 AM
It just came out a couple weeks ago.
[asin]B00EJQT83Q[/asin]
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81Bg2zquo2L._SL1200_.jpg)
Thanks, I knew of that one but never checked the secondary title.
I'm feeling something of a philistine here. I have Le Royaume Oublie, the first Orient - Occident, and Esprit d'Armenie, and while they are magnificent recordings, simply sublime through the stacked Quads - with a palpable realism to the acoustic and the percussion especially - I am afraid I find it rather difficult to tell them apart.... I wouldn't rush to buy another of his long-lost-repertoire-I-found-in-an-attic-somewhere-in-the-near-east-and-rewrote discs. On the other hand I hadn't realised that there were all these recordings of established composers available as well: that's exciting: Purcell is a recent favourite, in particular. I shall put some of these on my wish-list...
Quote from: Reverend Bong on January 23, 2014, 07:40:23 AM
I'm feeling something of a philistine here. I have Le Royaume Oublie, the first Orient - Occident, and Esprit d'Armenie, and while they are magnificent recordings, simply sublime through the stacked Quads - with a palpable realism to the acoustic and the percussion especially - I am afraid I find it rather difficult to tell them apart.... I wouldn't rush to buy another of his long-lost-repertoire-I-found-in-an-attic-somewhere-in-the-near-east-and-rewrote discs. On the other hand I hadn't realised that there were all these recordings of established composers available as well: that's exciting: Purcell is a recent favourite, in particular. I shall put some of these on my wish-list...
So a little goes a long way then? I suspected that. Actually, his ventures with established composers are excellent, as far as my own experience goes, I think you will be content. :)
8)
Quote from: Reverend Bong on January 23, 2014, 07:40:23 AM
I'm feeling something of a philistine here. I have Le Royaume Oublie, the first Orient - Occident, and Esprit d'Armenie, and while they are magnificent recordings, simply sublime through the stacked Quads - with a palpable realism to the acoustic and the percussion especially - I am afraid I find it rather difficult to tell them apart.... I wouldn't rush to buy another of his long-lost-repertoire-I-found-in-an-attic-somewhere-in-the-near-east-and-rewrote discs. On the other hand I hadn't realised that there were all these recordings of established composers available as well: that's exciting: Purcell is a recent favourite, in particular. I shall put some of these on my wish-list...
Esprit d'Armenie is his most melancholy "eastern" album; it was recorded after the death of his wife and I think he found a lot of solace in the melancholia that he perceived in the Armenian culture. I don't know if Armenia is really a beautiful lament like the album is, not having been there, but it's interesting to suppose that Savall was projecting, a bit.
Balkan Spirit, by contrast, is a vivacious, exuberant, life-affirming album full of hypnotic stomping dances. Of the "Savall Goes East" series so far my favorite is Istanbul, but that's because I'm Turkish. :)
I just got a box of 12 or so new Alia Vox CDs yesterday. I think my collection is done for a few years...
Quote from: Brian on January 23, 2014, 08:46:43 AM
Esprit d'Armenie is his most melancholy "eastern" album; it was recorded after the death of his wife and I think he found a lot of solace in the melancholia that he perceived in the Armenian culture. I don't know if Armenia is really a beautiful lament like the album is, not having been there, but it's interesting to suppose that Savall was projecting, a bit.
Balkan Spirit, by contrast, is a vivacious, exuberant, life-affirming album full of hypnotic stomping dances
Well, Balkan folklore music have many facets and it can be just as melancholy as the Armenian. OTOH, I'm sure there are vivacious, exuberant, life-affirming Armenian dances. :D I certainly agree that his wife's death played a major part in selecting the pieces on that album.
Quote
Of the "Savall Goes East" series so far my favorite is Istanbul, but that's because I'm Turkish. :)
That's my favorite too, but that's because I'm Romanian, as Dimitrie Cantemir, the transcriber and compiler of the music, was. :)
Quote from: Brian on January 23, 2014, 08:46:43 AM
I just got a box of 12 or so new Alia Vox CDs yesterday. I think my collection is done for a few years...
Wonderful!
Please post the list when you get a chance, Brian.
Thanks! :)