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EARLY MUSIC REVIEW
Mediterranean Melting Pot
March 16, 2001
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By Jeff Rosenfeld
Few cultures in history embraced different ethnic groups more successfully than medieval Spain. Moslems, Christians, and Jews converged on the Iberian peninsula in productive cultural tension under pragmatic Islamic rule. The cosmopolitan exchange of far-flung goods and ideas gave birth to, among other things, the renewal of interest in Classical knowledge. Likewise, Hesperion XXI, the early-music specialists, are devoted to the renewal of ancient arts. And the musicians' program of medieval Spanish fare on Saturday at First Congregational Church in Berkeley thrived the same way the Moors in Spain did: by mixing the diverse cultural ingredients of the Mediterranean melting pot.
Hesperion presented six sets combining songs, or "romances," with instrumental variations, all traced to the oral traditions of the regions populated by Sephardic Jewry before and after their expulsion from Spain in 1492. The sources of the music ranged from Spain and North Africa to the Balkans and the Middle East. Rather than presenting sacred Ladino songs of the era, Hesperion drew upon a secular, multicultural mix of ballads and laments on love, deceit, and chivalry.
The concert was a tribute to the diversity of cultures that mingled in Spain rather than a celebration of the Sephardic tradition. Some songs, for instance, had overtly Christian or Islamic themes. This made the unwieldy title in the program booklet seem as misleading as it was redundant and opaque: "Diaspora Sefardi: Roots and Memory from Medieval Spain to the Eastern Mediterranean — The Roots and the Cultural Richness of the Judeo-Spanish Oral Tradition in the World and the Eternity." I'm not sure what that moniker meant, but in any case the concert was not a stiff dissertation defense. What transpired was an intellectually and virtuosically souped-up version of a musically informal event of the era — like an assemblage of folk musicians at a bazaar. Soprano soloist Montserrat Figueras projected this premise with dramatic facial expressions, as if she were a street musician or storyteller trying to lure the attention (and pesos) of passersby. The multicultural instrumentation also made it clear that this was a special bazaar. Hesperion presented a fantasy of the cosmopolitan glories of medieval Spain: Arrayed somewhat casually onstage were Jordi Savall, frequently playing a 15th century rebab(bowed string instrument) made in Afghanistan; Kenneth Zuckerman, with Indian sarod; Yair Dalal, with traditional Arabic oud; and Pedro Memelsdorff, with copies of early Baroque flutes from Italy. Rounding out the group were Begoña Olavide on psaltery, Arianna Savall on medieval harp, and Pedro Estevan on assorted percussion. To anyone familiar with the world music or early-music scenes, this was considerable star power.
The group looked like a mishmash. For instance, Savall wore subdued Western black with a scholarly scarf, while Zuckerman, cross-legged on a carpet, wore traditional Indian clothing. But their musicianship made the cultural mix work. Zuckerman received the evening's most vociferous applause for a mesmerizing, virtuosic improvisation with percussion backup that had begun with a simple, dueling-banjos-style exchange with Dalal's bright and tender oud. Savall, meanwhile, contributed soulful meditations and lively dances with his various bowed instruments. Memelsdorff's flute obbligato also spun elegant mysteries off of "Romance de La mujer engañada: Nani, nani." His delicate shadings of pitch and tone were exquisite. But so too were the quiet scrapes and taps on drum behind him. In fact, Estevan's subtle percussion work was throughout a consistent delight, his fingers delightfully toying with our ears. This music was often rhythmically surprising, too. In the instrumental called "Paxarico tu te llamas," for example, a steady seven-beat pattern would periodically expand into eight. Nothing captured the ambiguity and complexity of the era better than the voice of Figueras. She has a peculiar ability to flesh the clarion purity of medieval sacred melody with white-hot worldliness. At other times, she also employed the rich and exotic embellishments of Middle Eastern style. With Figueras, the individual traditions Hesperion represented were fused in a fire of emotions, a musical melting pot. (Jeff Rosenfeld is an oboist with the Kensington Symphony, West County Winds, and Pacific Wind Ensemble. He is a freelance science journalist and author of the recent book Eye of the Storm: Inside the World's Deadliest Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and Blizzards.) ©2001 Jeff Rosenfeld, all rights reserved |
