Marin Marais - Grand Ballet (2002) [Glossa Music]

Paolo Pandolfo
Each stroke of the bow is a specific movement, and the challenge of the sound it produces is to breathe life into an imaginary choreography without which the music would lose its soul.

Glossa
With every new project, Paolo Pandolfo confirms his position as the greatest viola da gamba player of his generation, each time unveiling a world whose existence was hitherto unknown to us. 70 minutes of dazzling virtuosity, the most communicative musicality and immense interpretative intelligence. One cannot say enough when referring to the wisdom and inexhaustible energy of this artist who is securing the future of early music which in these last times had seemed so predictable and conceptually weary.
Grand Ballet goes straight to the heart of Marais’ music, to its essence, which is no other than the dance and the gesture, of crucial importance in the years of splendour of Louis XIV. Magnificent liner notes written by the luthier Pierre Jaquier, a regular collaborator on Pandolfo’s French projects, put the finishing touch to a CD which we present with the certainty that it will set a new standard.



Title & Reference

GRAND BALLET
Music by Marin Marais
GCD 920406. New 2004 edition

Performers

PAOLO PANDOLFO, viola da gamba

Guido Balestracci, viola da gamba
Thomas Boysen, theorbo and baroque guitar
Dolores Costoyas, baroque guitar and theorbo
Mitzi Meyerson, harpsichord

Production details

Recorded in Berlin (Siemensvilla), Germany, in October 2001
Engineered and edited by MANUEL MOHINO
Produced by MANUEL MOHINO and PAOLO PANDOLFO

Total playing time 69:45

Design: CARLOS CÉSTER
Photographs: JUAN LUCAS

Booklet essay(s)

Pierre Jaquier
Paolo Pandolfo
French, English, Spanish, German

Performances
Marin Marais Suite for viola da gamba & continuo in A minor (Pieces de viole, Book III, Nos. 1-13): Excerpts 2001 22:17
Marin Marais Suite for viola da gamba & continuo in G major (Pieces de viole, Book III, Nos. 92-111): Excerpts 2001 17:45
Marin Marais Work(s): Muzette for 2 Viols & Continuo in G major (Book 4) 2001 5:04
Marin Marais Work(s): Chaconne for Viol & Continuo in G major (Book 5) 2001 5:17
Marin Marais Suite for viola da gamba & continuo in D minor (Pieces de viole, Book II, Nos. 1-20): Excerpts 2001 19:09
Paolo Pandolfo Improvisation for viola da gamba 2001 3:30
Marin Marais Couplets de folies (Les folies d'Espagne), for viola da gamba & continuo in D minor (Pieces de viole, Book II, No. 20) 2001 17:19