media

deux violes anciennes

Le Haags Gemeentemuseum avait en sa possession deux violes anciennes relativement méconnues. Dr. M. Latcham et Gesina ont publié au sujet de ces instruments. Quelle que soit leur origine, ces deux basses de violes sont d’une belle qualité, et n’ont rien à envier aux instruments de Rombouts et Collichon. Ils font désormais partie de la collection du Rijksmuseum d’Amsterdam. L’article entier est disponible à l’adresse suivante:

récompenses pour violes

Le consort Spirit of Gambo a reçu un Diapason d’Or pour son enregistrement de la musique à quatre violes de John Jenkins. Harold Lopparelli, dans son article, se demande si les violes de Gesina Liedmeier sont la raison pour laquelle l’enregistrement sonne si bien! Lisez l’article dans son intégralité :

Viol fantasias, in the 17th century, experienced a glorious Indian summer in England. Although by then the continent only swore by the violin, Jenkins, Lawes or Locke kept exploring the possibilities offered by consort music, in a cultural landscape which also included Van Dyck and Milton. Phantasm (Avie) and Hesperion XX (Astrée) had already looked into Jenkins' fantasias for five and six voices, followed by Jérôme Hantaï who counted on the efficiency of a mixed ensemble of viols and violins (NaÏve). The Spirit of Gambo (a beautiful name inspired by Tobias Hume) chose to record the four voices fantasias. It may be argued that the treble's interpretation - always perilous - is slightly less tidy than that of its partners. No matter, however: the Dutch ensemble is not looking for the immaculate perfection of its English counterparts, nor the sonorous splendour of Hesperion XX, nor the wild delivery of Ghielmi's team. What dominates is a sense of balance, a quest for natural beauty, and an interpretation devoid of affectation and brutality, which avoids blandness by paying particular attention to nuances of polyphonic lines. A pleasure so close to that of a concert is seldom found in a recording, nor is the convivial happiness the "consortists" share. Where does such an intelligible and wholesome approach come from? A lead: one of the ensemble's musicians (Gesina
Liedmeier) is also the inventive maker of their viols, and her instruments are integrally fitted with gut strings, which makes for great transparency and dynamics.