Opinions on the merits of recently issued CDs have been in demand here at the FAQ. Generally speaking, we try to concentrate on factually-based information. However, I am now doing the present editorializing. I will be writing some remarks every month on recordings which inspire me to make remarks.
These are brief remarks, not real reviews. The remarks may assume that the reader is familiar with various other items, or even the recording in question. I urge you to always look at "page of FAQ" links in the referenced files, as well as the CD files themselves. For more comments on what a "review" means to me, as well as links to some other opinions, see the bottom of this page.
Comments are updated at the end of each month, and appear in months during which the CDs actually make their way to me, allowing a few days at the end of the month to prepare the comments. I do not delay in requesting new releases of interest, but the vagaries of shipment from Europe can mean that items arrive here in later months. I do not consider CDs to be "new" if I did not attempt to hear them when they first appeared.
A new recording of Cabezón's keyboard music includes some of the vocal works on which it is based. This might be appealing for some listeners, although I think a better discussion of the relationship between the music is warranted in order to make it valuable. For me, whereas the harpsichord playing is quite good (although with more rubato than I'd typically prefer), I found the additional tracks to be more of a distraction than anything. However, I am happy that Cabezón continues to receive attention, as his music, and indeed the rise of instrumental music generally, is a fascinating part of the 16th century repertory. As philosophical ideas about treating words in music in particular ways related to the meaning of the words gained prominence, the abstract musical considerations of the Franco-Flemish school slowly fell by the wayside in vocal music. Instrumental music carried on those ideas, but in a mixed way, as it was also suitable for flashy or light-hearted styles. In any event, Cabezón wrote some excellent material, some of it recorded here.
The latest from "The Sound and the Fury" is a disc devoted to La Rue, with two of his most technical canonic masses. Both are first recordings, although the 6-part Missa Ave sanctissima Maria had had some excerpts recorded all the way back to pioneers Richard Taruskin and David Munrow. Here both masses are given very solid treatments, with good handling of the technical aspects and solid singing. In terms of the recording and/or ensemble blend, I have some difficulty making out all six parts in the Missa Ave sanctissima Maria sometimes. This would seem to be one drawback of recording a live performance. The music is taking a bit to fully grasp, but I wanted to get this out before leaving for the rest of July. More discussion will be found on my personal list at a later date.
The ensemble Per-Sonat, with a different & larger instrumental group around Sabine Lutzenberger, has released a second recording devoted to medieval music. In this case the Roman de la Rose theme spans centuries, as does the program. Although encompassing a variety of musical styles, there is some wonderful material here. The singing is a pleasure, as are the varied & sometimes original instrumental sonorities. The performance is not original from the technical perspective of rhythm or phrasing or tuning, but sometimes shows a welcome and creative touch with timbre & rhythmic accents. When not being creative, the sonorities are nicely polished and well-executed. A recording from this ensemble focusing on one of the styles represented in this program would be most welcome.
No releases arrived this month, although a couple should be here soon.
The latest release by the Ferrara Ensemble returns to the Ars Subtilior repertory, with a compelling new production. This is the ensemble's first recording that does not date to the 1990s, so there has obviously been considerable time in the interim. Even on this release, the majority of tracks was recorded in 2000. If there is a story behind these developments, I am not aware of it. That said, this is a very enjoyable program, showing a great command of this repertory developed over a long period of time. This recording was added to my personal list.
I intend to keep 4 to 6 months' worth of comments on this page, depending on the length of the individual entries. Once the comments expire, they are gone forever, and rightly so.
My opinion of "reviews" is as such: It takes a good deal of work to write a proper review. Simply paraphrasing the liner notes and adding something to the effect of "It sounds cool to me; check it out!" or "It doesn't seem like the performance from which I learned the work" does not do the job justice. Any time someone is asked to churn through a long list of recordings to regularly write reviews, there is almost no chance that the reviews will be fully informed. The only chance is if the reviewer is intimately familiar with the music in question, the requisite interpretive decisions, and the intentions of the performer. This can only be true rarely, even for a scholar. We do not attempt to write regular reviews for the FAQ, nor do we call them that. Beyond not wanting to inject more opinion than necessary into our information, this is an admission of our own failings, and frankly, many reviewers should admit the same instead of pretending to write reviews about something with which they have little familiarity (that this happens frequently is patently obvious).
I sometimes write reviews, but I am not attempting to write any here. Hopefully the editorializing I am doing will, however, be interesting. I usually restrict FAQ comments to be positive only, but here I will give some negative comments too, if that is the notable thing about a release. As for what silence says? I leave it to you to infer.
To more of Todd McComb's personal opinions:
See also: discussion of "progress" in interpreting this music, or links to other recordings lists.
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Todd M. McComb <mccomb@medieval.org>