BaL 22.10.16 - Flecha: Ensaladas

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

0930
Building a Library: Tess Knighton compares recordings of the 'Ensaladas' of the early sixteenth-century Mateo Flecha, written for the diversion of courtiers. A captivating mixture of popular song, madrigal and liturgical music Flecha's lively Ensaladas have in recent years attracted a range of performance styles, from one voice to a part to recordings with full choir and instruments.


Available recordings:


Ensalada 'La justa'
Ensalada 'El jubilate'
Ensalada 'La negrina'
Ensalada 'El fuego'
Ensalada 'La bomba'
Ensalada 'La guerra'
New London Consort, Philip Pickett (download)


Ensalada 'La justa'
Ensalada 'El jubilate'
Ensalada 'El fuego'
La Stagione Armonica, Sergio Balestracci (download)


Ensalada 'La guerra'
Hespèrion XXI, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Jordi Savall
Piffaro - The Renaissance Band (download)
La Capella Reial de Catalunya & Hespèrion XXI, Jordi Savall
Piffaro


Ensalada 'La bomba'
Ensemble Clément Janequin, Dominique Visse
Calmus Ensemble
I Fagiolini
The Hilliard Ensemble


Ensalada 'El fuego'
Capella de la Torre
La Compañia


Ensalada 'El fuego'
Ensalada 'La justa'
Ensalada 'La guerra'
Ensalada 'La negrina'
Les Sacqueboutiers (download)


Ensalada 'La negrina'
Ensalada 'La justa'
La Colombina - Maria Cristina Kiehr (soprano), Claudio Cavina (alto), Josep Benet (tenor), Josep Cabré (baritone), Josep Benet




Las Ensaladas- Spanish Songs of the 16th Century
PERE ALBERCH VILA: El Bon jorn; La Lucha
MATEU FLETXA: El Fuego; La Bomba
BARTOMEU CARCERES: La Trulla
La Colombina

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I admit I don't really know what I'm doing.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I admit I don't really know what I'm doing.

New repertoire to me, too - one of the most enticing BaLs for that very reason.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

New repertoire to me, too - one of the most enticing BaLs for that very reason.

Precisely.

[CallMePaul]

Unfortunately I will not be able to listen to the most interesting (on paper at least) BALs for some time as I will be in Greece. Unfortunately the most comprehensive selections seem to be download only, which rules them out for me as I can only play them on my desktop. I suspect that most classical music enthusiasts also prefer hard copy CD and also want the notes, texts etc that usually come with them. Please can we not have so much download on this programme and can reviewers please be instructed to give an alternative CD recommendation if their first choice is download only!

I heard some of these live from the New London consort in the 90s when I lived in London but do not have a recording of any; the prevelance of downloads probably means that I will not hear them recorded by NLC or any other group.

[Quarky]

Unfortunately I will not be able to listen to the most interesting (on paper at least) BALs for some time as I will be in Greece. Unfortunately the most comprehensive selections seem to be download only, which rules them out for me as I can only play them on my desktop.

Amazon Cloud? Seems an issue for the Techie board?

[LeMartinPecheur]

Mmmm, definitely one to catch! It's not often with BaL that I'm certain I've never heard anything by the composer live AND pretty sure I've not got a single note of his on my groaning shelves. He isn't even in my Oxford Dictionary of Music, though searches further afield have now enlightened me.

So before we get into the usual debate on TK's choice of the best recording, shall we discuss whether BaL has afforded any of us a radical conversion to Flecha?

[doversoul1]

My bit of homework

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG0xPDjZOgE

[BBMmk2]

Now this is interesting!

[CallMePaul]

Amazon Cloud? Seems an issue for the Techie board?

The point I was trying to make is that CD sales in the classical market considerably exceed download/ streaming sales, so choice of repertoire for BAL should recognise this. In this case all the comprehensive collections of Flecha's works are download only and this does not suit all listeners who may be interested in acquiring some. I for one do not have suitable equipment for playing downloaded music and have no intentions of buying any, so want CD (or even vinyl) recommendations not downloads.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

There are CD versions (all at premium price) available from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0008JEK72

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001MGCITC

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flecha-Salades-Catalanes-Herrera-Difuntos/dp/B0000283B2

... the NLC is currently only available on CD second-hand.

[BBMmk2]

I've been thinking about certain recordings as mp3 downloads rather than the physical aspect of a CD, especially thinking about the price!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

So before we get into the usual debate on TK's choice of the best recording, shall we discuss whether BaL has afforded any of us a radical conversion to Flecha?

After listening to the youTube recording supplied by dovers ( ) I can't say that I've been radicalized, but certainly intrigued. Information about the composer is rather spare on the internet - WIKI devotes more space to the elder "Matthew Arrow" than the younger composer whose "salads" are the BaL: and even then, they can't decide whether junior was senior's son or nephew!


- it is the younger whose work is to be discussed, isn't it?

[MickyD]

The point I was trying to make is that CD sales in the classical market considerably exceed download/ streaming sales, so choice of repertoire for BAL should recognise this. In this case all the comprehensive collections of Flecha's works are download only and this does not suit all listeners who may be interested in acquiring some. I for one do not have suitable equipment for playing downloaded music and have no intentions of buying any, so want CD (or even vinyl) recommendations not downloads.

[Dave2002]

Very interesting BAL this one. So many different ways to play the music, and many of them not liked so much by the reviewer. I wonder how my LPs of Cantiguas de Santa Maria by the Clemencic Ensemble from years ago would fare nowadays. I used to like them, but so many recordings and performances of this kind of music are, or were, based on uncertainty about musical styles. Maybe we are getting closer with more research, but even that is not certain I think. This could be a BAL to listen to more than once.