- Orchestra: Harp Consort
- Conductor: Andrew Lawrence-King
- Composer: Lucas Ruiz de Ribayaz
- Audio CD (16 Jan 1996)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Deutsche Harmonia
- ASIN: B000001TYV
- Other Editions: Audio Cassette | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 56,484 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Product details |
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I have come to this album after listening to the highly regarded recent albums from L'Arpeggiata - another harp-led continuo group - (La Tarantella and All'Improviso), and a couple of albums from Hesperion XX. I have to say that the recording and playing is of a higher quality than both of those, and this UK-based band seem to capture the feel of Spanish music - at least in instrumental music - better than the Spaniards themselves. If you think you will like the sound of plucked and bowed instruments in this beautiful, seductive music, then buy this. I will now investigate more by this band.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Normally I wouldn't write contentious reviews but this time I must strongly oppose the other reviewer. With old/early music the key to keep it relevant is to live it and play it with a stance and attitude, to think of it in terms of live music. None of that is to be found in this record; it is as if taking a dance party and make it play with no food or hope in a dark place without colour and dimension. The worst offence about playing so wonderful a material as this is the lack of minute variations in tempi, of microcontrasts, of the fine yet crucial coordination in timing that makes a great musical result great. This in contrast is a very untalented, very bland effort that inclines towards monotonous strumming and feckless chord running, always as if just a tad too slow to be coherent or enjoyable, with the result as bland and uninspired as it gets. This record lacks sun and energy, as if the musicians were never near the spirit of the music, nor were keen to be. The fact that the recording quality is quite subpar and noisy, with poor dynamics and generally lacking in volume also does not help. On direct comparison of renderings of the same material like Folias and Espanoletas here and on albums by Pluhar's Arpeggiata - pure joy there, no hope in lifelessness here. Try the latter's All' Improvviso/Los Impossibles/Tarantella (in this order or magnitude), or similar efforts by Savall&Hesperion, Los Otros, Beasley&Accordone... Stay away from this. The one plus star only for the material, none for execution.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
18 reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Dances for the heart
16 Oct 2002
Format:Audio CD
The Harp Consort is a formidable team in presenting this music of 17th Century Spain. Ruiz de Ribayaz was a minor aristocrat who reached South America in his travels. A companion of the operatic composer Velasco, Ribayaz wrote a treatise of "music known to every school child in Madrid." This "common" music is here transformed into a series of luscious pieces that evoke nearly every emotion in the listener. The collaboration of harp and guitar in these offerings merge to produce simple chord sequences linking the pieces into one grand melody of many parts. Even strung together, the pieces grant each performer a range of opportunity for virtuosity. And Lawrence King's Harp Consort does just that throughout the disk. This flexibility allows the listener to choose listening to the set in sequence or in random selection without loss of continuity.
As a dance set, the rythmns vary with each piece, each opening with a signature theme. The pace may be fast or slow as the work develops. Although you cannot see Steve Player perform [as i have], the sense of the dancer's movements can readily be derived from the music. Adding to the images invoked is the realization that the dances are derived from places as far-flung as South America, Mexico and Northern Spain. One needn't be a music
nor dance specialist to envision the swirling, cavorting, or simply promenading figures that must have accompanied these pieces in their orginal form. Nor does one have any trouble imagining the shade of Ribayaz smiling approval at the Harp Consort's delightful presentation of his compositions. "Any child in Madrid" might have grown up to produce just what you're hearing from this CD.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Plucking in Heaven
30 Nov 2000
Format:Audio CD
Andrew-Lawrence King and the Harp Consort play about 1400 different strummed instruments, from King's usual bevy of harps (double harps, celtic harps, etc.) to Paul O'Dette and company with their various lutes and guitars, plus Hille Perl on viola da gamba. As with many Harp Consort recordings, you don't know how much of their expertise you can trust in terms of "authenticity"; it's hard to tell if Ruiz de Ribayaz' music was ever played this way. But with an emphasis on improvisation and creativity, plus some extremely fine sounding period instruments (or copies), this disc is a supreme joy to listen to. Track 24, the Gaytas, is a particularly sweet and tuneful little piece. "Spanish Dances" runs the gamut from danceable (dangerously pop-influenced at times) to gentle and lilting, and always sublime. The types of music and sounds produced are greatly varied, possibly due more to the performers than the composer. The entrance of percussion into the fold is also very welcome. This is truly unlike anything else out there.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
wonderful stuff
13 Aug 2001
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was lucky enough to hear the Harp Consort perform much of this CD live in Oaxaca City's state museum--an 17th century Dominican monastery. Eerie doesn't begin to describe the experience. The group is wonderful. At one moment deep and dense, the next funny, light and a little bawdy. The CD captures this wonderful group and their amazing sound.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
