Marin Marais

Program: #20-39   Air Date: Sep 14, 2020

I. Marin Marais: Le Labyrinthe (Paolo Pandolfo & ensemble). Glossa CD GCD C80404.

Paolo Pandolfo, viola da gamba
Thomas Boysen, theorbo & baroque guitar
Mitzi Meyerson, harpsichord

with:
Juan Carlos de Mulder, baroque guitar
Alba Fresno, viola da gamba
François Fauché, reciter
Pedro Estevan, percussion

Paolo Pandolfo is no doubt one of Glossa’s key artists. Still on the label since he joined it in 1995, this recording of a selection of works by Marin Marais was a milestone in his career. Rarely has this repertoire been played with such an energy and attention to detail, with such a magic in all its many special moments. An all-star setup including Thomas Boysen, Mitzi Meyerson and Pedro Estevan tells us about the labyrinth at Versailles, the bells of Paris or a painful surgery. Among the many unforgettable moments are Pandolfo’s reading of the Tombeau pour Marais le Cadet and the Chaconne. Paolo Pandolfo began his research in the field of Renaissance and Baroque music idioms around 1979 together with violinist Enrico Gatti and harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini. In 1982 he became a member of J.Savall’s ensemble Hesperion XX and played with him until 1990 throughout the world, and making dozens of recordings. In 1990, after the huge success of his first recording as a soloist he was nominated as Professor of viola da gamba at his alma mater, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel.

1. Prélude en harpegement (Livre V) 2:29
2. Le Labyrinthe (Livre IV) 12:33
3. Cloches ou Carillon (Livre II) 6:36
4. La Polonaise (Livre II) 2:43
5. La Musette (Livre III) 3:42
6. La Guitare (Livre III) 3:59
7. La Georgienne dite La Maupertuy (Livre V) 1:39
8. Plainte (Livre III) 3:46
9. Le Jeu du volant (Livre V) 1:54
10. Marche Persane dite La Savigny (Livre V) 3:38
11. Rondeau. Le Bijou (Livre IV) 3:27
12. Sarabande à l’Espagnol (Livre II) 3:15
13. Le Tableau de l’opération de la taille (Livre V) 3:37
14. Le Tourbillon (Livre IV) 1:09
15. Tombeau pour Marais le Cadet (Livre V) 5:57
16. Chaconne en rondeau (Livre II) 6:08

II. Marin Marais: Trios pour Coucher du Roi (Ricercar Consort/Philippe Pierlot). Ricercar CD RIC 154.

The Pièces en Trio enable us to see a totally different side of Marin Marais’ work; he is no longer writing for himself and his own bass viol, but rather for his colleagues, the musicians of the Chambre du Roi. Marais opened the gates to a new instrumental genre in France with this collection in 1692. Ricercar, to seek, has been the underlying motto of the Ricercar Consort ever since its foundation. It was in 1985, with J. S. Bach’s Musical Offering, that the ensemble made its first concert tour, having already acquired a solid international reputation with its recordings, notably in German Baroque cantatas and instrumental music. Today, under the direction of Philippe Pierlot, the Ricercar Consort continues to explore the Baroque repertoire, from chamber music to opera and oratorio, and to enthrall music-lovers with performances that are both profound and rigorous.     

Suite II a
Prélude
Fantaisie
Sarabande
Gigue
Rondeau
Menuet
Gavotte
Plainte
Passacaille

Suite I
Prélude
Sarabande
Sarabande
Fantaisie
Loure
La Bagatelle
Gavotte
Rondeau
Menuet
Chaconne

Suite V
Prélude
Fantaisie
Gavotte
Rondeau
Menuets
Sarabande en rondeau
Sarabande
Caprice
Passacaille

Suite IV
Prélude
Sarabande
Air
Gigue
Gavotte
Caprice
Menuets
La Marianne
Autre
Plainte

Suite II b
Sarabande
Petite Passacaille
AIR

Suite III
Prélude
Sarabande grave
Fantaisie champestre
Gavotte en rondeau
Gigue
Branle de village
Rigaudon
Menuets
Simphonie

Suite VI
Prélude
Sarabande grave
Gavotte
Menuet
Rondeau
Caprice
Fantaisie
La Désolée

III. Le Secret de Monsieur Marais Alpha CD 453.

Luca Pianca, archlute & theorbo
Il Suonar Parlante Orchestra
Vittorio Ghielmi, viola da gamba, pardessus de viole & conductor

Between 1680 and 1728, Marin Marais brought the pièce de  viole to the peak of perfection. An ‘unremitting’ teacher, he was also the publisher of his own music and invented special signs to notate certain ornaments for the viol. In the course of his research at the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Italian gambist Vittorio Ghielmi studied these manuscript codes, in the hand of Marais himself or his direct students. ‘This led me to a new vision of French Baroque music, which applies not only to the viola da gamba, but also to vocal and orchestral music. These signs reveal the technique of playing in action. Contrary to the static descriptions of the treatises of the time, one has the impression of seeing didactic “videos”.’ This album, entirely devoted to the music of Marais, alternates récits for solo viola with orchestral pieces, all of them reinterpreted in the light of the new discovery of Monsieur Marais’s ‘codes’. In addition to Parisian viols of the time, Vittorio Ghielmi owns an instrument by the famous luthier Michel Colichon (a friend of Marais’s teacher Sainte-Colombe), made in Paris in 1688. Only two of the five surviving viols by Colichon are still in playable condition

1. 1. 1. Alcione: Tempeste
      2. Pièces de viole, Livre II No. 63: Les voix humaines
      3. Alcione: Marche pour les matelots
      4. Pièces de viole, Livre IV: La Biscayenne
      5. Alcione: Deuxième air des matelos
      6. Alcione: Troisième air des matelots
      7. Pièces de viole, Livre IV No. 70: Rondeau. Le bijou
      8. Pièces de viole, Livre IV No. 87: Badinage
      9. Alcione: Gigue
      10. La siamoise
      11. Pièces de viole, Livre II No. 40: La polonaise
      12. Pièces de viole, Livre IV No. 70: Sarabande. La désolée
      13. Pièces de viole, Livre IV No. 18: Allemande. La Marianne
      14. Alcione: Sarabande
      15. Les regrets
      16. Arianne et Bacchus: Ouverture pour servir d'entr'acte
      17. Pièces de viole, Livre II No.65: Prélude
      18. Sujet. Diversitez
      19. Arianne et Bacchus: Simphonie du sommeil
      20. Alcide, tragédie: Marche pour les Pastres
      21. Pièces de viole, Livre II No. 19: Ballet en rondeau

Composer Info

Marin Marais

CD Info

Glossa CD GCD C80404, Ricercar CD RIC 154, Marais Alpha CD 453