Customer Reviews

Cansos de Trobairitz: Songs of the Women Troubadours c. 1200

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All of Jordi Savall’s 1970’s recordings for EMI are well worth the hearing, and this re-issue from 1977 is certainly no exception, its brilliant re-mastered sound being well-matched by the inspired performances featuring the delightful soprano voice of Savall’s wife Montserrat Figueras together with Josep Benet, tenor, Pilar Figueras as duet partner in “Na Carenza al bel cors avinen” and an instrumental ensemble consisting of Jordi Savall playing the vielle and the lyre, Hopkinson Smith on guitar and lute, Lorenzo Alpert, flute and percussion, Gabriel Garrido, flute, guitar and percussion, and Christophe Coin, vielle and rebab. The opening Vos quem semblatz dels corals amadors is worth the price of the whole CD, but the other six tracks also leave nothing to be desired, my personal favorite being the above-mentioned duet. The booklet fortunately gives the texts not only in the original Langue d’Oc but also in English translation, thus making it possible to follow the proceedings in as much detail as one could possibly desire. – As with all medieval music, the arrangements are very much a matter of personal choice, and Savall has, perhaps naturally, chosen a decidedly Spanish-sounding flavor for these pieces which were originally written by upper-class women from Provence in today’s Southern France and sung to well-known troubadour melodies, only “A chantar mer de so q’ieu no voldria” having been set to music by its authoress, the Condesa (countess) de Dia, around 1200. – From my point of view, the only fault on this disc is the playing-time of 50 minutes, I could have happily listened for a lot longer.

I originally bought the LP version of this over 25 years ago in grad school, and loved it. (Had to give the LP copy to charity about a decade later when the turntable died and inexpensive turntable-based stereos weren't being made anymore, but that's another story.) Reading Church history and GMing quasi-medieval fantasy RPGs for my kids resurrected the medievalist fangirl in me, and so I started looking for this again. This particular recording of trobairitz songs is out-of-print as an individual CD, so I was happy to find a used copy on Amazon Marketplace in near-new condition, with the original liner notes. (The song lyrics in my copy's liner notes are in Provencal and a German translation -- not the English translation the other reviewer apparently had; I'll just dig out my copy of Meg Bogin's The Women Troubadours (Norton Paperback) from the basement if I want an English translation, though.) This disc is still available new as part of Hesperion XX/XXI's Espana Antigua boxed set; however, the boxed set does NOT include the individual discs' liner notes (so people who buy the boxed set containing this disc will want to buy a copy of Meg Bogin's "The Women Troubadours" also.)
If I get really ambitious, I may start seeking out other early music CDs by Hesperion XX/XXI as well, since I enjoy this particular title so much