Grand ballet is an apt title for Paolo Pandolfo’s latest release, reflecting not only Marais’s predilection for dance music but also the fact that he was reported to play the viol ‘with his bow always in the air’. The same might be said of Paolo Pandolfo, whose lithe, balletic style and iridescent sound distinguish him from his peers. He’s supported, too, by a brilliant continuo group, whose daring, stylish realisations contribute to performances which are at once ebullient and intoxicating.

Viele versuchen es, aber wenige erreichen es: das Kunststück, als Popkünstler und Alte-Musik-Experten zu gleicher Zeit authentisch zu wirken. Dass sie zu denen gehört, die es erreicht hat, macht Hille Perl zur Ausnahmekünstlerin. Mögen sie und ihr Partner Lee Santana sich auch inszenieren – in ihrem Spiel gelingt der stets schwarz gekleideten Rotweinliebhaberin eine so vollkommen natürliche Verbindung zwischen Sinnlichkeit und melancholischer Endzeitbetrachtung, dass moderne und barocke Lebenslust, heutige Weltflucht und barockes Memento mori zu einem Lebensgefühl zu verschmelzen scheinen.

Un disque qui s’inscrit dans l’intégrale des pièces de viole de Marin Marais, comprenant deux suites en ré majeur et sol majeur avec, en particulier, la très belle pièce intitulée Les voix humaines, toute d’intériorité et de gravité, hymne à la voix humaine et à l’instrument qui, à l’époque, s’en approchait le plus, la viole. La viole, seule, ou associée à d’autres instruments, la musique en général qui transcende la parole, qui enhardit, qui bouleverse, charme et aide à vivre ce compositeur admiré de la cour du Roi Soleil et de l’Europe entière, qui s’interroge sur les questions fondamentales de la vie, de la mort, du destin. L’essence des autres pièces est, avant tout, celle des musiques de danse, rythmées et jubilatoires. Une musique parfaitement interprétée, des danses mais aussi une méditation qui est un des moments forts de l’œuvre de Marin Marais.

It is perhaps a truism that virtually all so-called great composers had a special preference for the viola as da braccio (on the arm, i.e. the modern instrument) or da gamba , a versatile instrument of the viol family that was a particular focus of Baroque composers. Indeed, the Sixth Brandenburg features pairs of both instruments, da braccio and da gamba, and what would the passions be without the solo work Bach includes for each? This may have been due to the fact that one of his employers, Duke Leopold of Saxony-Anhalt-Cöthen, liked to play it, but more likely Bach liked the instrument’s versatility and distinctive timbre.

Like many of his contemporaries, Marin Marais has paid the price of his proximity to some outstandingly brilliant musicians. Between Lully and Rameau we can still cite Charpentier, Delalande, Campra and François Couperin. But what about the others? The Destouches, Mouret and Marais pale beside the stars of a fertile era which was rocked by controversy. The school of harpsichordists and organists, who were no match for Lully’s vocal art, are still represented in the repertoire of present-day performers: D’Anglebert, Lebègue, Dandrieu, Grigny and Clérambault are still played on our instruments. But Marin Marais had the misfortune not only to compose operas in Lully’s domain, but also to devote the bulk of his art to an instrument which was being eclipsed by the advance of the violin family… namely, the VIOLA DA GAMBA or the BASS VIOL. And it is only recently that we have rediscovered the specific manner of playing this instrument as well as the composers who wrote for it.