Marais: Pièces de viole du IV livre (1717): Suitte d'un Goût Etranger; Pièces de viole - Book 2: Les Folies d'Espagne; Suite in E minor; Book 4: Le Labyrinthe

COMPOSERS: Marais
LABELS: Alia Vox; Zig Zag
ALBUM TITLE: Marais
WORKS: Pièces de viole du IV livre (1717): Suitte d’un Goût Etranger; Pièces de viole - Book 2: Les Folies d'Espagne; Suite in E minor; Book 4: Le Labyrinthe
PERFORMER: Jordi Savall, Philippe Pierlot (basse de viole), Pierre Hantaï (harpsichord), Rolf Lislevand, Xavier Díaz-Latorre (theorbos, guitars), Andrew Lawrence-King (harp), Pedro Estevan (percussion); Ensemble Spirale/Marianne Muller (viole de gambe)
CATALOGUE NO: AVSA 9851 (CD/SACD hybrid) ZZT060801

So perennially youthful is his playing



that it brings you up with a start to



read Jordi Savall’s reminiscences of



discovering Marin Marais back in



1959! Thirty years ago he started to



record the music, and just in time



for Marais’s 350th anniversary year



he returns to the Suitte d’un Goût



Etranger and to all 33 pieces of a set



he asserts represents the genius of



Marais’s art at its ‘fullest expression’.



Anniversary tributes don’t come



more wholehearted. Even without thesuperb SACD sound the notes leap



out of the speakers. This is repertoire



Savall has grown up with, grown



through indeed, and to which he



returns with enthusiasm enflamed.



It’s not hard to see why. With its



piquant character pieces the Suitte



is a gift to a performer with Savall’s



instinctive flair – from the raspy



wheeze of the ‘asthmatic’ Allemande



to the gruff swagger of the ‘Marche



Tartare’, the quasi operatic scena



of ‘Le Labyrinthe’ to the frothy



intercourse of ‘Le badinage’.



He’s not afraid to include percussion



in a continuo. Thus does the ‘Feste



Champêtre’ twinkle, thrumming



guitar enriching the mix. Savall



takes the technical difficulties in his



stride; there’s no hint of strain. Above



all, despite Savall’s pivotal role, you



quickly sense that here are a group



of musicians, perfectly attuned to



the music in hand, putting their



rehearsal pencils to one side, and



letting their hair down.



In another postbag, perhaps,



Ensemble Spirale’s disc majoring on



the Second Book of Viol Pieces might



have made more of an impression.



Director/Gambist Marianne Muller



plays with Savall’s Hesperion XXI,



and here includes that twisting and



turning ‘Labyrinthe’ from Book



4. But the shadow of Savall falls



long and unhelpfully. Her ‘Follia’



Variations set the thermostat several



degrees below his earlier recording,



and a thoughtful account of the



E minor Suite culminates in a



performance of the great ‘Tombeau’



to Saint Colombe somewhat two



dimensional. Savall’s Marais,



meanwhile, is already one of the



major releases of the baroque year.



Buy it!