Jordi Savall just keeps on turning out the hits. In this case, quite literally, as these works represent popular music from a wide, wide variety of countries as disparate as Afghanistan, Morocco, Turkey, Rhodes, Spain, Italy, France, England, Germany, and Mexico. This is as good an introduction to “world music” as I can imagine, and is far more penetrating in emotional exuberance than much of the pop-schlock that passes for the genre these days.
As most readers are probably aware, the greatest classical music has its roots in the most noble of folk elements of any country under consideration. Just look at the number of folk song settings by so many great composers, and the number who spent large portions of their lives researching this music. What Savall has given us here is music that blossoms out from the folk idiom in the form of that most communal of activities, the dance. Whether the plaintive English Anonymous Lullaby that Montserrat Figueras sings, to her equally affecting I am the Mad Woman by Henri du Bailly, or the rollicking Sweetheart Who in Your Fickle Moods by the noted musician, priest, murderer, and general womanizing rogue Jose Marin, the infectiousness of this music grabs you and doesn’t let go.
Those familiar with any of the many discs that Hesperion XXI (and XX) have been putting out for so many years need not have any fears in acquiring this latest one. All of the standard-setting production values, from cover art to notes, to sensationally clear and vibrant sound, are all here. Everyone should have at least one example of the formidable art of Hesperion in their collection, and this is as good a place to start as any.
— Steven Ritter
