A dive into the world of a viol master proves deeply rewarding
THE STRAD RECOMMENDS
The Strad Issue: October 2024
Description: A dive into the world of a viol master proves deeply rewarding
Musicians: La Rêveuse
Works: Marais: Pièces de viole Book 2 – excerpts. Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe: Concert XLIVe Tombeau les Regrets. De Visée: Chaconne
Catalogue number: HARMONIA MUNDI HMM905356
The relationship between the young viol player Marin Marais and his teacher, the enigmatic Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe, was famously fictionalised in the book and film Tous les matins du monde. Here we meet Marais towards the end of Louis XIV’s reign, paying tribute to his former teacher with a plaintive tombeau but striking out boldly with more adventurous solo pieces.
The superb French early music ensemble La Rêveuse interprets this elusive and intricate music with a stylish gravity. Co-founders virtuoso violist Florence Bolton and Benjamin Perrot, spreading chords evocatively on theorbo, lead the way, with a second bass viol and harpsichord in the continuo group.
Read: Rachel Barton Pine plays sonatas of Arcangelo Corelli
Review: Sainte-Colombe: Concerts Á deux violes esgales
Concert review: Isabelle Faust (violin) Antoine Tamestit (viola)
Marais introduces character pieces for the first time, and in ‘Cloches ou Carillon’ conjures up the clanging and pealing of bells, while ‘Les Voix Humaines’, made up entirely of double and triple stops played with immense skill by Bolton, achieves real profundity.
The tour de force is a set of 32 variations on the ‘La folia’ theme. Perrot switches from the more meditative theorbo to Baroque guitar and the ensemble gradually whips up the excitement to some jaw-dropping virtuosity by Bolton on the top strings of her seven-string bass viol. The sound is haunting and atmospheric, balanced to perfection with each instrument’s timbre allowed to speak.
JANET BANKS
No comments yet