Customer Reviews

The Pleasures of the Royal Courts

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've always liked this recording for the variety of pieces it contains: Italian, Spanish, German, Burgundian. The main drawback is that they only have one singer - some pieces with vocal harmony would have been nice.

I bought this CD about a year ago, and truly enjoy going "back in time" as I listen to it. As a collector of medieval manuscripts and books, I listen to this CD while studying and admiring my collection. Each track truly adds that special touch of actually being there at the time these manuscripts were created. The vocals are authentically done, and the compilation of music from each country and century are beautifully arranged on this CD. Listen, and travel through three centuries with this CD, and you will surely be taken back to the court dances held inside, and outside, the ancient castles of those times.

Here we have an interesting sampling of early European music from the Middle-Ages to the Renaissance. The selections vary from dance music, carnival music, and music for more formal events. Its an even distribution of both instrumental and vocal pieces. As is most often the case, much of the music is of anonymous origin. The geographic origin is mainly France, Spain, and Burgundy.

I really enjoy listing to my copy of this album especially while surfing the net or playing Age of Kings. I turn off the game music and listen to this instead - Hey the game IS set in the Middle Ages ;-) Also good for playing while reading fantasy stories set in pseduo-european middle age worlds! I wish I knew alot about music so I could post a learned and studied review. All I can say is I really enjoy this cd and am very glad I bought it. I have since ordered more music by the Early Music Consort of London as I the more I listen to this cd and similar music the more I want to hear it!

For more good early music I really like Ensemble Unicorn and Sonus.

The instrumental pieces are attractive; especially lovely are those from renaissance Spain and Italy. Christopher Hogwood plays Cabezon's demanding "Differencias" altogether ably. Except for that, though, the instrumental works use forces too reduced to qualify as ROYAL pleasures. Calling them "Pleasures of a Successful Shopkeeper" might be more a propos. All the same, they are performed with enough feeling to satisfy the attentive listener.

The countertenor, James Bowman, explains why I generally dislike that voice (exceptions: Russell Oberlin of New York Pro Musica fame and David Daniels). People tell me that most "countertenors" are really baritones singing in falsetto. In that case, why don't these men sing BARITONE? Despite Bowman's tired, anemic whining, the songs themselves are so beautiful that I'm glad to own this CD. However, Victoria de los Angeles' CD set of called SONGS OF SPAIN affords the opportunity to hear two of them in all their glory. Listen to both singers' renditions of "Pase el agua" and "Ay triste que vengo" side by side. V. de los Angeles will thrill you, amaze you, leave you awe-stricken. That's how early music--and ALL vocal repertoire--should be sung.

The renaissance pieces are satisfying enough, but the medieval selections are treated so poorly as to be insulting. In the light of newer recordings, this album falls flat track after track. The musicianship is coarse, the singing inane, the arrangements crude. Such performances only perpetuate the image of the middle ages as a cultural wasteland, which demonstrates ignorance and lack of perspective.