France Itinéraire Baroque en Périgord, 2024 [4] – L’Iinéraire: Various Locations, 3.8.2024. (CC)
La Gracieuse: Robert Smith (viola da gamba), Mike Fentross (theorbo). Église Saint-Laurent de Mareuil, 9.30am.
Marais – Suite in A (Book 2); Suite in G minor (Book 3, plus ‘La Georgienne dite La Maupertuy’ from Suite No.5); Suite in E minor (Book 4)
What a way to begin the 2024 Itinéraire! Robert Smith is the most impressive of gambists, joined here by the excellent theorbo player Mike Fentross. Smith’s playing is of a purity rarely heard on any instrument; his gamba positively sings, something certainly to the fore in the Prélude to Marais’s Suite in A (from the second book of pieces; all suites are from Marais’s Pièces de viole des Cinq Livres). It is nice to hear just with theorbo; Smith’s recording for Resonus Classics includes harpsichord, and an extra gamba for the bassline. The acoustic of Mareuil’s Église Saint-Laurent was perfect; a large space (this is the communal concert before the audience is split up) suddenly made intimate. Something very clear in the opening Prélude of the A minor Suite. The ‘Boutarde’ that follows, full of stopping despatched with preternatural ease by Smith, was nicely robust (more so than on the recording); it is cruelly short. ‘La Graceuse’ (the title of Smith’s Resonus disc) follows, full of magical pianissimos before a delightful final dance.
The G minor Suite (from the Third Book) entertains maximal contrasts: the fantasy of the opening Prélude against the well-behaved Caprice that follows. Again, it was the slow sections that impressed so deeply, here a Plainte of supreme longing. The bells of the church ringing the hour were part of the journey here (which only added to the charm); as were Smith’s gorgeous, rolled chords at the opening of the ‘added’ movement (‘La Georgenne dite La Maupertay,’ from the G minor Suite of the Fifth Book).
Finally, four movements from the Suite in E minor from the Fourth Book, appropriately the most outgoing of the three Suites we heard. The Prélude is almost a fantasia in itself; it is indeed followed by a Fantaisie. But at its heart is a Sarabande à l’epagnol, supremely expressive, with Fentross superbly sensitive to the ongoing flow. And finally, a surprise: the Suite’s eleventh (!) movement, La Biscayenne with special guest star soloist Ton Koopman on drum. A delightful close.
… back in 2019, incidentally, Itinéraire Baroque presented Moi, Marais!, an acted spectacle including Marais’s viola da gamba works performed by Alberto Rasi, with actor/comedian Lorenzo Bassotto (review here).
And so the Itinéraire began – our little group began with …
Musick for a While: Musica Gloria. Église Saint-Martin de Champeaux, 11am.
H. Purcell – Musick for a While (Oedipus, Z 583); Hornpipe (The Old Bachelor, Z 607); Entry Dance & Rondeau, Second act tune (The Fairy Queen, Z 629); When Orpheus (Celestial Music did the Gods Inspire, Z 322; Harpsichord Suite in D: Almand, Corent & Hornpipe, His Solitude, Z 406 (Comes Amoris); Strike the viol, touch the lute (Come, ye sons of art, Z 323)
D. Purcell – The Unhappy Penitent: Slow Air
Wordsworth – I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud
Musica Gloria comprises Pieter De Praetore (countertenor), Nele Vertommen (oboe/recorder), Anne-Linde Visser (cello/viola da gamba) and Beniamino Paganini (harpsichord/recorder). As you can see, they are a talented, multi-instrumentalist lot: this concert was an affirmation of the joy youth can bring to music making. Their discs have already announced Musica Gloria as an imaginative group (Corelli and Handel: Musical Encounters in Rome and Fasch’s Oboe are the ones I am familiar with).
Beginning with Musick for a While is brave – one of Purcell’s most famous pieces, if not his most famous. There was an element of theatre about this performance, the musicians making themselves known to us one by one. Pieter De Praetare has a lovely voice, his control at the separated statements of the word ‘all’ was excellent, as was his ornamented version of the opening section on its repeat.
The music was perfectly chosen: a sprightly Hornpipe from The Old Bachelor, and two excerpts the pièce du semaine, The Fairy Queen: The BBC Prom performance on August 6 from Les Arts Florissant, a Purcell/hip-hop mélange, was unforgettable, and of course there was the performance at Thaxted by the Armonico Consort and Players this year (review here). All of this renewal of interest in non-Dido works is to be welcomed (whilst not forgetting the genius of that seminal work). The two excerpts here, a noble Entry Dance and gracious Rondeau, with some wonderfully controlled oboe playing from Nele Vertommen.
The song ‘When Orpheus’ (from Celestial Music did the Gods Inspire, Z 322) again had an element of theatre, which only served to underline the heart-breaking nature of the song.
A procession of instrumental pieces (form a Harpsichord Suite and more Fairy Queen) led to the one piece by Henry’s brother, Daniel Purcell (c.1664-1717), a lovely piece featuring Vertommen. The Wordsworth poem was recited in French before the laden ‘Oh, Solitude’, De Praetere at his most touching (this is one of Purcell’s finest songs, with echoes of when Dido’s sigs of ‘Ah, Belinda’ from the opera Dido and Aeneas). Another Fairy Queen ‘entr’acte’ before the absolutely infectious Strike the viol from Come ye sons of art (a birthday ode for Queen Mary).
Without doubt, Musica Gloria deserves every success. They invigorate this music beyond compare.
Dios y Hombre: Cantoría (Jorge Losana, director/tenor). Église de Saint Front sur Nizonne, 12.15pm.
Flecha – Cancinero de Barcelone (excerpts); Fantasia qu contraze e harpa di Ludovico; Las Ensaladas de Flecha
Guerrero – El toro; La bomba
Mudarra – Prado verde y florido; O Virgen cuando os miro; Si tus penas no pruebo: Huyd, huyd o ciegos amadores
This concert was subtitled ‘Polyphonic Vocal music of the Spanish Renaissance’. The Spanish vocal ensemble Cantoría has already issued one disc of music by Flecha, entitled Ensaladas, on Editions Ambronay: there it was four voices only (Inés Alonso soprano, Oriol Guimerà alto, Jorge Losana tenor & artistic director and Valentín Miralles bass); here there was a change of bass (to Víctor Cruz) and the group was augmented by Pablo FitzGerald on vihuela.
Mateo Flecha (‘El Viejo’, c.1481-1553) was a Catalan composer; Francesco Guerrero (1528-1599) Andalusian. The more spiritual songs of Guerrero contrast with the concentrated expression of Flecha. The first piece, ‘Los reyes siguen la estrella’, set the stall for Flecha’s music in its very unpredictability, coupled with a real dramatic flair; the lullaby that followed showed a very different side. Throughout, though, there was the purity of approach and attack from Cantoría, blissfully low, often free of, vibrato. Rhythms dance with this group, and the way they sing implies what we hear is the result of a long journey from manuscript to vibrant life.
For all of the excellence of Flecha and Guerrero, it was the vihuela music of Alonso Mudarra (1510-1580) that impressed the most, perhaps most in the almost chorale-like O Virgen. A composer to explore, for sure.
Cantoría are superb ambassadors of this repertoire; this was a concert to relish. Wit met profundity; the result touched the soul.
La Naissance de l’Air baroque: Johannette Zomer (soprano), Mike Fenross (theorbo). Église Saint-Martin de Saint-Félix de Bourdelles, 3.15pm.
Monteverdi – Laudate Domnum
Frescobaldi –Se l’aura spira
Kapsberger – Toccata; Già risi del mio mai
Constantijn Huygens – Le réveil de Calliste (Aubade)
Caccini – Amarilli mia bella
Nicholas Lanier – No more shall meads be deck’d with flowers
From Frische Lust-Hof (1621 book of popular Netherlandish songs): Goddine, wiens minne
H. Purcell – Music for a While
Statistically, not every concert in a day such as this will be of equivalent excellence. The experienced soprano is clearly something of a linguist (she sang fluently and convincingly in Italian, French, English and Dutch), but her voice is a little tired She was upstaged somewhat by the enthusiasm of her theorbist Mike Fentross (who we met what seemed by this stage a long time ago, but was actually only at 9.30 that morning). Zomer’s recordings are finer than what we heard here; the Monteverdi lacked just the last ounce of rhythmic flamboyance; at the other end of the recital, Purcell’s ‘Music for a While’ paled in comparison to the Musica Gloria performance.
What were lovely was the poignant Dutch song Goddine, wiens minne, and Huygenss’ Le reveil de Calliste, and Lanier’s No more shall meads be deck’d with flowers was completely convincing in its beauty (and who doesn’t like the idea of a rosy bower?).
It was though wonderful to hear a Toccata by Kapsberger on theorbo, complemented by a rare outing for one of his songs. Sadly, not the finest concert of the day.
Entre l’Ange et la Bête: Catalina Vicens (organetto, positive organ). Église Saint-Jean Baptiste de Puyrénier, 4.30pm.
While there was a listed programme for this lecture-recital, the musicologist and performer Catalina Vicens instead presented a clutch of pieces introducing her instrument, the organetto (it looks a bit like an accordion) and the positive organ. The event title refers to drawings found in the marginalia of books of the time.
If you want to get an idea of the extraordinary sounds of this concert, try Vicens’s remarkable disc An Old Hall Ladymass on the 2L label, where she is joined by Trio Mediæval. The music is strange, haunting, modern yet timeless. Perhaps most extraordinary was her performance of Machaut’s Dame, vostre doulz viaire, an expressive melody against a drone (interestingly, vibrato was used to increase emotion).
In addition, we heard some music for the positive organ from the Florentine court, plus an improvisation on Hildegard’s music. The whole event was spellbinding. Vicens is a captivating narrator (it was mainly in French, with portions translated by Vicens into English).
Music at the Court of Ommeyades: Les Aromates. Château de Connezac, 6pm.
The final concert took place not in a church but at a château (and a very nice one, at that); it was also outside. This was very outdoorsy music: the group Les Aromates comprises percussion (Michèle Claude), flutes (Isabelle Duval), violin (Baptiste Frugier), viola (Lou Deschamps), double bass (Julien Blanchard) and lute/vihuela (Jonathan Lemarquand). We were transported via music to the courts of the Caliphs of Spain. Perhaps appropriately, it was baking hot in the sun.
The music encompassed gypsy flamenco, and music from North Africa and the Middle East, including Sephardic sounds. The sound is remarkable, the rhythms infectious. If you want to hear what the group sounds like, try their Alpha disc Rayon de Lune, although bear in mind that is a studio-cleansed version of what we heard in France. Live, there is vibrant electricity everywhere – I am genuinely surprised no-one got up to dance. To hear Les Aromates is a thrilling experience. Each member is a virtuoso, and each member (pardon the pun) got his own moment in the sun. They do extroversion and they do tenderness with equal ease. For my tastes, and purely for my tastes, there was rather too much of a good thing, but I suspect I could be in the minority there.
Colin Clarke