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Reviewer:
Barry
Witherden
As Moorish Spain
had done, Byzantium-Constantinople-Istanbul provided a fertile environment for
interaction between Christian, Islamic and Jewish music, and, particularly from
the mid-16th-century, became home to Jewish, Greek, Levantine and European
communities. In Mozart’s time (witness, most notably, Rondo à la Turque and Die
Entführung aus dem Serail) the trendsetters of Europe developed an interest in
Turkish music and the military Janissary bands, and just a few years ago there
was a revival of this interest, with recordings demonstrating the two-way
traffic of musical influences. Savall takes us back further, covering the period
from 1430 to 1750, focusing on pieces collected and published by historian,
musicologist and sometime Prince of Moldavia, Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723).
This is a typical
Alia Vox Hespèrion release: sumptuously packaged, richly illustrated, and
supported by edifying scholarly notes about the music and its historical
context. It’s recorded in clear yet atmospheric sound, featuring convincing
realisations of a well-planned programme in performances that, regardless of how
‘authentic’ they may or may not be, are beautiful and affecting. In addition to
the late Montserrat Figueras, there is wonderful singing by the Israeli Lior
Elmaleh and the Turk Gursoy Dinçer, with the gorgeous sounds of such ‘exotic’
instruments as the santur, duduk and rebab generously featured.
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