Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007
2:30 am at
http://eargasm.ccpblogs.com/
Post subject: New ensemble, BRIO - fab review of their Charleston show!
Ancient Music, “Con
Brio”
Please pardon my
delay of nearly a week before telling you about this truly class act – but
I’ve had other fish to fry and some urgent deadlines to meet. SO much
music; SOOO little time!
One of the Holy
City’s most delightful (and often least heralded) resident musical
entities is the College of Charleston’s early music ensemble, the
Charleston Pro Musica.
Directed by distinguished ancient music scholar and performer Steve
Rosenberg (also Early Music Department Head), the group enjoys a
well-deserved international reputation. It’s a variable and very flexible
bunch whose repertoire encompasses a wide range of instrumental and vocal
music from the Medieval era through the Baroque. They’re busiest during
Piccolo Spoleto, when they perform repeatedly for the duration of the
festival.
A couple of years
ago, a four-person sub-ensemble known as Brio was formed, built around the
striking and absolutely unique voice of countertenor
José Lemos.
Having gotten his college training right here in Charleston, he’s now a
rising star in the world of Baroque opera – and we’re blessed that he
comes back to perform here several times a year. Brio is a group that
specializes in early Spanish vocal music, with emphasis on the songs of
the Sephardic Jews – music that shows Arabic and other pan-Mediterranean
influences; you can also tell that it’s a precursor to what we now call
Flamenco music. This engaging young singer not only has a voice you’ll
never forget, but his natural Hispanic temperament and passion (he’s from
Brazil) make him an ideal interpreter of this music.
But Brio’s not
just all about José. Beginning with
Rosenberg,
the group can claim three more of the best early music names in the
business. Hey, whether it’s a gemshorn, recorder, or any other member of
the flute family, Steve can play the heck out of it – not to mention
various early guitars. Strings sorceress Mary Anne Ballard – also a member
of the well-known Baltimore Consort – handles the various members of the
ancient viol family, plus the Rebec: ancestors to our modern orchestral
stringed instruments. Percussion wizard Danny Mallon is a one-man drum
band, playing as many as four different instruments at once. You should
hear the symphony of sounds he can get out of a simple tambourine.
Together, they
lived up to their name last Monday night, performing with terrific zest
and skill … you just KNEW these folks were having a ball together. Their
program – well over a dozen songs along with some instrumental numbers –
closely matched the contents of a really smashing CD that Brio made for
the recently resurrected Dorian label – a record company long known for
the excellence of its ancient music recordings. José – his voice
smoldering and dripping emotion – had us all in the palm of his hand.
Steve dazzled with his sprightly spirit and virtuosity (and yes, he did
his “two-recorders-at-once” trick!). Mary Anne gave us sweet and searing
sounds from her assorted viols, and Danny made more different kinds of
beguiling rhythmic noise than you could count.
Stay tuned to
Eargasms and I’ll see to it that you know when they’re playing next …
‘cause if you haven’t heard these amazing musicians, you MUST. They’ll
charm your socks off, on top of teaching you something. Come talk to me if
you’d like to hear their CD – like the group, it’s a total winner.
|
Brio - Romance - Dorian Recordings
This fine
collaboration
might also be called an early example of world
music.
Published
on October 10, 2007
|
 |
Brio
- Romance - Dorian Recordings DSL-90708, 49:55 ****:
(Jose Lemos, countertenor; Steve Rosenberg, recorders/Renaissance &
Baroque guitars; Mary Anne Ballard, treble, tenor & bass viola da gamba
and rebec; Danny Mallon, castanets/darbuka, riq, frame drums, shakers,
wood block, agogo bells; Larry Lipkis [guest], viol/recorders/gemshorn)
The Sephardic Jewish culture of early Spain might be considered a very
early example of musical crossover. The Sephardic Jews who lived in Spain
from Roman times until the expulsion of 1492 had their own culture but
soaked up those of their surroundings wherever they were. Cultures from
Europe, North Africa and the Middle East came into Spain and when the
scattering of the Iberian Jews occurred, they mixed their musical culture
with those of their new neighbors. One of their beloved forms was a type
of ballad influenced by the early songs of the medieval troubadours. It
was called the Romance, and this Dorian debut of the quartet
known as Brio concentrates on their exquisite interpretations of this
traditional Sephardic music.
Brio makes use of instruments from the medieval, Renaissance and Baroque
periods as well as culture of the West and Near East. Some of the songs
have a strong Turkish flavor, others sound more thoroughly Spanish. They
are in both in Spanish and in the Ladino Sephardic language. Many have a
strong dance beat. Brazilian countertenor Lemos is one of the leading
Baroque singers, and has performed in productions of such operas as
Monteverdi’s Poppea, Handel’s Giulio Cesare, and Lully’s
Psyche. His unstrained high voice is quite lovely, and I should
admit that I am generally not a fan of countertenors. Complete English
translations are provided of all the songs - thank you Dorian. Sonics are
superb. This fine collaboration might also be called an early example of
world music.
TrackList:
1. Serena
2. Ya Me Consi
3. El mi quierdo
4. Quien es aquello
5. Esterica
6. Debka
7. Noches, Noches
8. Nimrod
9. Las Estreyas
10. La Rosa
11. A la Una
12. Las Muchachas
13. Adio
14. Durme Durme
15. Los Cominos
16. Van y Vienen
17. Nani Nani
18. Proque llorax
19. Una Tarde
20. Ah El Novio
- John Sunier
|
|
ROMANCE
Music of the Sephardic Jews--songs & instrumental pieces
José Lemos (countertenor)
Brio
Dorian- DSL 90708(CD)
No Reference Recording
Brio is a relatively new early-music
ensemble (formed in 2002) that specializes in "medieval, Renaissance, and
Sephardic music." Its members are far from novices, however; each has a
distinguished resumé that includes mastery of performance on various
instruments (Baroque guitar, recorder, viola da gamba, rebec, all manner
of percussion) or voice, in the case of Brazilian countertenor José Lemos.
Larry Lipkis and Mary Anne Ballard are regular members of the Baltimore
Consort; Brio founder Steve Rosenberg is known as "the Pied Piper of the
recorder world"; percussionist/Mannes College of Music faculty member
Danny Mallon is highly regarded for his popular recital "Drums Through the
Ages"; and José Lemos is a very busy opera singer and recitalist who has
appeared at some of the world's most famous festivals and opera houses.
The repertoire on this program is described
as being derived from "oral tradition from the Sephardic Jewish culture of
early Spain." And indeed, precisely because of this oral tradition no one
today can know for sure what the original music actually sounded like or
what instruments were used. This region of the world also was subject to
many cultural influences and societal upheavals--including the expulsion
and dispersal of Jews from Spain and Portugal in the 1490s--that again,
because the music wasn't written down, certainly affected the music's
later stylistic and linguistic features. Thus, what Brio gives us are
performances of songs and dances based both on scholarship and the kind of
intuition that informs the work of artists long immersed in a particular
field or practice.
If you haven't heard Lemos perform--and you
really should experience his singing live, for he is a very charismatic
performer--you'll notice how his vocal quality and expressive manner have
a sort of "nervous" intensity that differs from the more lyrical,
silver-throated legato technique of, say, David Daniels or Andreas Scholl.
Some of this is due to the nature of the songs, which demand emotional
emphases that occasionally place deeply-felt passion above pure beauty of
tone. And Lemos is completely in command of both his musical material,
much of which involves the ornamental slides and micro-tonal melodies
characteristic of Middle Eastern music, and language, whether Spanish or
Ladino (the "native tongue of Iberian Jews").
Lemos' partners are invariably tasteful and
artful in their accompaniments, always conscious of the texts and how to
set a mood or set a proper dance rhythm. Although for a listener
unfamiliar with this kind of music there's a similarity to many of the
songs that may not allow for continuously focused listening for the disc's
full 50 minutes, there's also an undeniable commitment and energy from the
performers--besides the sheer virtuosity of their singing and
playing!--that's worth experiencing, especially in repertoire with such
fascinating diversity of melodic and rhythmic styles and colorful
instrumentation. Recommended.
--David Vernier
|
