Texte paru dans: / Appeared in: |
|
|
Outil de traduction ~ (Très approximatif) |
|
|
Reviewer: Philip
Greenfield Before I forget, azahar means orange blossom in Spanish. It becomes a fragrant metaphor for the Virgin Mary in a 13th Century poem that became one of the texts set by Maurice Ohana (1913-92) in his Cantigas. That evocative title turns out to be one of the nicer things about this release, which, frankly, is a little on the strange side.
Stravinsky’s 1948 Mass was
inspired by the medieval idiom of Guillaume de Machaut’s Notre-Dame Mass,
and Monsieur Ohana’s Cantigas are 20th Century echoes of the medieval songs
crafted by Alfonso El Sabio in his Cantigas de Santa Maria. So far, so good. The idea of the program, though, is to disorient the listener (Maitre Bestion’s own description) by jumbling everything up so that Stravinsky’s take on the liturgy is interrupted by Machaut three times, and we jump back and forth between the medieval Cantigas and the contemporary ones. Strangest of all is the version of the Notre Dame Mass in use, which sounds like the Otto Klemperer Silk Road Edition. It’s slow, craggy, and sports antiphons and other bits more redolent of an Eastern marketplace than a French cathedral. The Stravinsky is actually quite good, especially in the Gloria and deeply-felt Agnus Dei. I just wish they had left it alone, because the 700-year-old interpolations are disruptive and add nothing to either work. But there’s hearty singing on display in the medieval Cantigas, and the exotic touches added there wind up flattering Alfonso’s handiwork. I also find that the alternating idioms dilute the force of Ohana’s modernism, making his Cantigas sound more appealing. The recording is vivid and strong. Texts and translations are included in the booklet. A short Q&A session with the conductor takes the place of scholarly notes. | |
Support us financially by purchasing this disc from eiher one of these
suppliers. 
FR -
U.S. -
UK
-
CA -
DE -
JA -
 Un achat via l'un ou l'autre des fournisseurs proposés contribue à défrayer les coûts d'exploitation |
|
|
|
|
|
Cliquez l'un ou l'autre
bouton pour découvrir bien d'autres critiques de CD |
|
