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Hespèrion XX
Wednesday
8 March 2000 Victoria Concert Hall |
Las Folias Presented by the Singapore Symphonia Company |
JORDI SAVALL violas da gamba · bass viol ROLF LISLEVAND vihuela · guitar · theorbo ARIANNA SAVALL triple harp PEDRO ESTEVAN percussion ADELA GONZALEZ-CAMPA castanets · drum MONTSERRAT FIGUERAS the voice that did not sing · Mrs Savall |
PROGRAMME:
FOLIAS ANTIGUAS
Diego ORTIZ and ANONYMOUS Folias, Romanescas & GallardasFOLIAS GALLEGAS
Santiago de MURCIA Fandango
Folias Gallegas · Tarantela · ZarambequesFOLIES FRANÇAISE
Marin MARAIS Couplets des Folies
FOLIAS BRITANNICAS
Tobias HUME The Lancashire Pipes
FOLIAS ITALIANAS
Allessandro PICCININI/Hieronymus KAPSBERGER Toccate e Balli
FOLIAS IBÉRICAS
Antonio Martín y Coll Diferencias sobre las Folias
OVERALL NOISE RATING:
1 (a little bit of coughing in otherwise a peaceful concert)
The Noise Rating Index is a partially-objective measurement of pager and handphone blasts, 9pm and 10pm watch beeps, coughing-during-the-pianissimo-bits, intra-audience conversation and other mind-bogglingly inept noises emitted in the concert hall during actual performance of music. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 5, in increasing annoyance.
This review has been kindly sponsored by Singapore Symphonia Company
by Chia Han-Leon
Although concerts featuring Early Music (up to the Early Baroque) are no longer rare in Singapore, a visit by the famous groups still is. Now, a visit by one of the top-of-the-line masters has not happened yet - until now. As a fellow Inkpotter commented to me, even while Les Musiciens du Louvre did come last month, they did not come with Marc Minkowski. But even if Mr Minkowski came, he would have been nothing next to Jordi Savall.
Jordi Savall is synonymous with the revival and the art of the viola da gamba, in addition to being the leader of Spain's greatest, most celebrated Early Music ensemble, Hespèrion XX (XX = Roman numeral 20) which he co-founded with his wife Montserrat Figueras (another major vocal figure of the genre). He later also founded the vocal/instrumental group La Capella Reial de Catalunya and the orchestra Le Concert des Nations.
The power, beauty and uniqueness of Jordi Savall and his musicians in the world of Early Music cannot be underestimated, and must be heard to be understood. In some musical circles, Jordi Savall is actually called a "god". Suffice to say that you have not heard music from the Iberian peninsula until you have heard Jordi Savall; once one has heard them play music, Spanish or not, one's conception of music is transformed forever.
Likewise, even with my six-odd years of listening to the recordings by the maestro, I was still not prepared for the marvellous art I saw and heard this evening. The programme consisted entirely of music based on La Folia, the famous theme which flourished in late Renaissance Europe. The name itself connotes madness or foolishness (hence, the root of "folly"), and reflects on the fast pace and noisy character of the music created on La Folia. It was sometimes also set to a vocal text, and eventually developed various strains, some interpretations becoming slower and melancholic. More recent composers who have set La Folia to music include the French violist Marin Marais, Alessandro Scarlatti, CPE Bach, Vivaldi and of course Corelli.
At the start, one cannot be blamed for harbouring the thought that even the tuning sequence is part of the musical performance, as it seamlessly flows into the music proper, as if part of the entire ritual. The music builds up from the quiet and slow to the fast and furious; from a simple percussion tap accompanied by light guitar, to a busy ensemble of all instruments. The style, which is the perfect combination of instabilty and stability, is what makes Savall and company special. Rhythm has a different meaning with Hespèrion XX - it is near rhythmic, but is never exact - the result is the sensation of the music being "off-beat", and yet, nothing falls apart. The centre does hold. Even the trills, as in Savall's soprano gamba, are microscopic tremors of consummate geometric energy - it is an art belonging only to the master.
Dynamics with the group are also a craft of the highest refinement, and yet their execution makes all look so simple, so natural. The minimalist taps of the sticks, in the hands of Pedro Estevan, evoke everything - the unfaltering rhythm of off-rhythm pulses, universal because of its tap... tap... tap simplicity. All this combine to create a sensation that is unnerving, yet exciting, and in deep concentration, one's heart might be found beating very fast. Such was my feeling as Savall spun through The Lancashire Pipes, a folia of Irish/Norwegian origin by Tobias Hume - producing both the drone of the bagpipes and the upper melody on a single instrument.
On the vihuela, guitar and theorbo was Norwegian-born Rolf Lislevand, whose Scandinavian origin did nothing to hide his understanding of the Hespèrion concept. In the Fandango, his solo was shot through with the seemingly random melancholy so distinctive of Spanish guitar music.
When I first heard about this concert, I was greatly disappointed that in the publicity material, no mention was made that the great Early Music singer, Montserrat Figueras (Mrs Jordi Savall and the vocalist queen/co-founder of Hespèrion XX) was singing. I assumed, with great regret, that she was not coming.
After the concert, Dr Chang, Benjamin and I were hurrying backstage to find the entire group. Apparently the instrumental quintet was being besieged by newfound fans among the audience. But before we reached backstage, we bumped into Mdm Figueras, to whom I immediately and involuntarily began to worship. She was both humbled and delighted, apologetic about not being able to sing (they had only just arrived in Singapore from a previous concert in Adelaide) and crooning over the CDs we asked her to autograph, mispelling all our names with amused innocence.
A few minutes later, a large group of expatriates walked out of backstage right past us, while Mdm Figueras was still autographing. And though a few gave curious glances, it seemed none among them recognised the other half of Jordi Savall. What irony, I thought.
In these Folias Gallegas, he was accompanied by Adela Gonzales-Campa on nothing more than the castanets - but behold, if you have ever thought that this instrument was easy to play, think again. The castanets are not only difficult to play, but can only reach true art in the hands of the Spanish. Once again, here we were treated to a display of consummate mastery in the otherworldly logic of passionate rhythm. Ms Gonzales-Campa, who also played the jingles and tambour this night, showed what significance it is to wield the castanets in the name of Spanish culture. Think Flamenco, and the image immediately appears. Though she did not get up to dance, it was enough watching her weave her castanets languidly around the air, bringing it behind to soften the sound, bringing it forward to project.
Instruments in the hands of such musicians become very obviously a part of their very existence. In the second half, the soft-spoken Maestro Savall paused to explain to the audience, with the tiniest hint of pride, the history of his 1697 seven-string bass viol, and also how he converted an Italian 1550 viol (yup - it's 450 years old) into a gamba. The amount of cultural history sitting on stage - the half-millenium of instrument emitting these amazing sounds - was utterly mind-boggling.
Meanwhile, Mr Lislevand impressed us with both his stringwork and his percussion - using only his guitar or vihuela. On the triple harp, Arianna Savall, who has obviously taken after her still-beautiful mother, gave enchanting performances, including in her solo Italian folia, the well-known tune which Rodrigo and Respighi also used in their music.
In all, the performers turned their performance into a spiritual dance of eye and mind. See how they would watch each other with knowing looks, smiling, the silent connection spun between the wonderful musical communication. The peerless nobility of the men, and the beatific beauty of the women, all added up to music-making of absolutely the highest calibre, in hypnotic, mesmerising quietitude and relentless energy - with Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XX, Early Music is once and for all given definition.
Born in 1941 in one of the richest cultural places on the earth, Barcelona, this great Catalan master of the gamba was first inspired by his compatriot Pablo Casals to study the cello. He became interested in Early Music in his 20s and picked up the gamba, eventually becoming Professor of Viol and Ensemble at the Schola Cantorum of Basel, in 1974.
The folias in the programme stem from various parts of Europe, including Iberia (think Spain), the British isles, Italy, France, the Moorish cultures and Portugal. The fivesome came upon stage with quiet grace, and I was both astounded and impressed to see that the maestro himself looked exactly like his photographs (this being the first time I have ever seen him 'live'). With not a moment's waste, they began with a series of "Folias, Romancescas and Gallardas" of Portuguese decent. Immediately, the trademark characteristics of Savall and Hespèrion XX were brought into play.
Mrs Savall Who Did Not Sing
Just before the concert, she walked past me outside the main door, like some fairy goddess, gliding past me. I could hardly believe my eyes, and until I confirmed it during the interval, I wasn't really sure. I was screaming inside me: "AHHHHH! I didn't bring her CDs for her autograph!!!"
Chia Han-Leon has many Hespèrion XX CDs; they're just terribly difficult to review!
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665: 11.3.2000 ©Chia Han-Leon
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