From a friend in Brno (no, not Janacek) -
Saw a terrific concert tonight in Slavkov u Brna, aka Austerlitz,
site of Napoleon's great early triumph (the Battle of the Three
Emperors), in a lovely zamek (chateau? villa? palace?). Jordi
Savall & Rolf Lislevand in a concert of Ortiz, Cabezon, Dowlan,
Hume, Sainte Colmbe, de Vizee, and, centerpieces, Marin Marais
and Antoine Forqueray. Titled "Angels and Devils" it highlighted
two musical "duels", the main one being Marais-Forqueray, from
whence the program's title; but they managed to turn the
Dowland-Hume section into a duel as well (Hume won for showmanship,
Dowland for music).
The whole thing was a delight, for me particularly, because
Savall played the entire evening on a 7-stringed bass viol, which
is my favorite; he far too often (for my taste) plays a descant
viol; the bass has a sound like nothing else. Highlights of the
evening were Marais' Prelude to Les Voix Humaines (he also did
the musette from this suite), which had me forcibly restraining
from emitting audible sighs it was so lovely; and two of the
encores, both being improvisations. MORE, say I to this: first
encore was an improv onan old Bretagne melody which was so sad
and morose that, again, the bass viol was created to pull sighs
and plaints from it. THis was juuuuust wonderful. After a couple
more Marais musettes they did a wonderfully gentle series of
improvs on a canarias. The combination of theorbo and bass viol
was perfect for keeping the thing from becoming senselessly
jaunty, and as they brought the piece to an ever more silent
level....... the bells on the neighbouring church began sounding
the hour - 10PM - and, with a knowing look at each other, the
two musicians simply let their sound fade and the bells take
over. It was "one of those moments".
Far too little music in Brno of this calibre; but this was worth
the wait and the drive. Savall commented that, though he's from
Spain, he'd never played a concert in warmer weather. I don't
know what the temps have been here, but someone mentioned 36 in
passing the other day; couple that with unusual humidity and it
starts to get uncomfortable (while Moravian Brno was sweltering,
nearby southern Bohemia was suffering cloudbursts that had streets
flooded above car axle level. In one day! charlie
Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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