Anne Azema, Joel Cohen, Camerata Mediterranea - Troubadour Songs (2010) 3 CD Box Set

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Anne Azema, Joel Cohen, Camerata Mediterranea - Troubadour Songs (2010) 3 CD Box Set

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What these sound recordings attempt to do is to bring you face-to-face — or, perhaps more appropriately, sound to-heart — with actual works of the troubadours and, occasionally, of others in their circle of influence. The task is daunting for so many reasons: songs got written down decades, even centuries, after their dates of creation; only about ten percent of the original melodies survive; and most direct knowledge of how performers worked out their interpretations at the time has been lost. We know nothing whatsoever about the singing style, or about the techniques of instrumental accompaniment that may have been employed. These performances, therefore, of necessity, reflect a confluence of musicological and philological knowledge with performers' instincts and intuitions, as all of these tendencies interacted with each other at a specific moment in history, the late twentieth century.

The dominant subject matter of the first two programmes, Lo Gai Saber and Le Fou sur le Pont, is worldly love, its joys and its sorrows. Much of what the listener may encounter here may resonate very strongly within his or her mind and heart. This is, in part, because such strong feelings about romance and sex are, in a sense, timeless. But the resonance is also due, in large part, to the fact that it is the troubadours who first set out, in the West, the ethic of man–woman relationships that influences our behaviour to the present day.

What is less known and appreciated about the troubadours is that many of their works do indeed deal, directly, with religion, and with the destiny of man, and often in a powerful and compelling way. The third CD in this series, Provence Mystique — along with some of the tracks of Lo Gai Saber — groups some of these songs and texts, together with other, church-related works of southern Europe, in order to compose a picture of the deeply felt spirituality of that epoch. The listener is bound to note the extent to which the religiously oriented works are bound up with, and interdependent with, the secular love songs. The naïve faith of certain spiritually oriented songs contrasts with the pessimism and skepticism of others: traits of character and culture still very much present in the Provençal/Occitan/southern French civilization of our own time.

By reuniting these recordings in a single box, we hope to generate some new insights, understandings, and pleasures. Heard individually, these medieval miniatures, both sacred and secular, are a constant source of energy and delight. Experienced as an interrelated group, these songs of worldly love, and of yearning for the divine, create a dense, intense microcosm of Mediterranean passion and desire: a universe that still calls to us strongly, across the centuries.

Joel Cohen - Aniane, France, June 2010

… or Minstrel according to taste" would have been "string expert" Nettiw Drawde's description of "M-theory" of the troubadour music. Here is some information which I hope will be useful to a prospective buyer.

1. The contents. This box set includes 3 previously released CDs:

Lo Gai Saber / Troubadour Music
Le Fou Sur Le Pont / Troubadour Songs
Provence Mystique: Sacred Songs of the Middle Ages

The first CD contains a selection of songs from some of the major troubadours (e.g. Bertrand de Born, Gaucelm Faidit, Peire Vidal and Ventadorn). The second CD is on the music by one of the most famous troubadours, Bernard de Ventadorn (or Bernatz de Ventadorn in Occitan), whose performing career ranges from circa 1147 to 1170-80. His music is interspersed with readings of his biography. While the main theme in the first two CDs is about the worldly love, both its joy and its sorrows, the third CD is about troubadours' religious yearning (not often recorded) together with some church-related works of Aquitaine area.

I have owned and loved CDs 1 & 3 for a few years, but hadn't been able to locate a good copy of CD 2 at a reasonable price. So when I chanced upon this reissue box, I ordered it immediately. Now, listening to all 3 as a "cycle", even a non-expert like myself can discover some new connections, and find new understanding and enjoyment of these songs.

2. The performance. The performance of troubadour works has always been about the judicious combination of scholarship and performers' instinct. Here Joel Cohen, the director of Camerata Mediterranea, is joined by the renowned scholar Pierre Bec. The third CD is directed by Anne Azéma, a soprano specializing in early music. She is also the main vocalist in this collection. In addition, François Harismendy, an opera singer, and Jean-Luc Madier, a folksinger, both perform in the first 2 CDs.

Joel Cohen explains his choice of the singers by the following assumption/fact: the poetry is the driving force of this repertoire. Hence, his main criteria are the performer's instinct and his/her living connection with the modern Occitan. Prior experience in medieval music per se is only of secondary importance. All of his three singers heard Occitan (Langue d'oc) as children and have internalized the music of the modern dialects. Even though I know nothing about the langue d'oc, I was mesmerized by the natural flows and inflections of the poetry and music simply by following the English translation of the text.

Anne Azéma possesses a flexible instrument: She can be earthy in one song and pure in the next, gentle in one and powerful in another. Sometimes, the music is sung a cappella, but for most part voice is accompanied by sparse yet sensitive and expressive "soft" strings, mostly medieval fiddle and harp. Azéma's seraphic voice is tightly matched by Camerata's expressive accompaniment. Together, they wring every ounce of the melancholy and joy out of the poem and the music. These are remarkable performances throughout the 3-CD series with high points in CDs 1 and 2 IMHO.

3. Technical aspects: The recorded sound is clear and life-like. There is a new booklet note by Cohen himself in the box in English, French and German. The original CD notes and sung texts are downloadable from Warner Classics' website, with links given in the booklet.

One may ask: Why is troubadours' art relevant to those of us living in a time more than eight centuries later? To answer this question, I can do no better than quoting from Joel Cohen's own new booklet note:

"… these songs of worldly love, and of yearning for divine, create a dense, intense microcosm of Mediterranean passion and desire: a universe that still calls to us strongly, across the centuries the feudal castle of Ventadorn stands today in ruins; but the troubadours' world continue to live!"

Anyone who is interested in the troubadour repertoire should not miss these exquisite performances, esp. at this budget price.

Highly recommended.

Review by Y.P.

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Anne Azema, Joel Cohen, Camerata Mediterranea - Troubadour Songs (2010) 3 CD Box Set

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Anne Azema, Joel Cohen, Camerata Mediterranea - Troubadour Songs (2010) 3 CD Box Set

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Anne Azema, Joel Cohen, Camerata Mediterranea - Troubadour Songs (2010) 3 CD Box Set

Close