43 f
I
n the actual performance, the flowing sequence of pieces is lightened up by Popp’s witty linking of songs. He loves to joke to set the audience at ease, encouraging them to clap, shout, and dance if they wish. At the Harmonie gig he introduces Hija Mía to a packed public saying, “This song is about a mother who warns her daughter not to go to the well too much as many horsemen come there and they might take her with them. And the daughter replies, ‘Maybe it’s time I was whisked away!’”
So why the great attraction to this music? Sigrid says that being born in the old medieval city of Rejensburg had a huge influence on her love for early music. “I studied classical singing and hated that big vibrato voice and found a lot of scored music boring as the dynamics are small and the interpretative space tight. I felt much freer with music that allows more natural singing: you can put your ideas, heart and spirit into it and it flour- ishes.” For Sigrid, performance is more about energy flow than lit- eral meaning, about being in the spirit of the music. “It’s as if these old songs are constantly renewing themselves and if you join them on their journey they get a new life and bring it to you. They’re like a river I can join with my boat.”
Mara is attracted by what she calls the, “immortal nature of songs that are five, six, seven or more hundred years old and yet still touch the soul of the world today with messages which never go out of style. Themes of love and passion are always burning in one’s heart and in one’s life. Sephardic traditions combine the sim- ple with the essential, with clear lyrics that speak their mind. In the end we are intermediaries: we become the music and so it tells its stories. I love that they are popular and accessible.”
As the women go down to the sound check, they tell me the
catchy song Dezilde is the one they keep singing on the bus and in dressing rooms. The gig goes really well. Percussionist Sascha, who started as a kit drummer back in 1976 after studying classical per- cussion at the Munich conservatoire, plays an array of world instruments including African, Brazilian, Indian drums and Spanish pandeiro grooves. Aziz, who has been playing qanun since he was 18 years old (and also plays with the Ensemble Andalusi De Tetuan, Mythos and Alia Musica), establishes subtly contrasting introduc- tions for pieces using, he tells me, a beautiful instrument with the most exquisite tone from Syria.
of Rome’s Sistine chapel. “People thought them lurid but then realised that was how they were originally. With early music it was the same, so with Estampie we innovated, bringing in things like enormous customised horse-skin drums and other more physical features. We overcame initial surprise, even an at times hostile reaction, to become de rigueur and copied by subsequent groups. And now with Al Andaluz we have moved beyond frontiers and it is very exciting.”
A
Certainly it will be great to welcome them on their first ever visit to the UK, invited by Sean Purser, producer of Mary Ann Kennedy’s BBC Radio Scotland Global Gathering, to play live for the Christmas programme (21st December, 9-10pm), with a special BBC Radio 3 recording too (for later transmission in 2011 on World On 3).
Viva Al Andaluz!
www.myspace.com/alandaluzproject www.alandaluzproject.de
F
t midnight, we’re sitting in the Kameha Grand, a Val- halla-styled new hotel on the Rhine owned by the partner of Germany’s present Foreign Minister. Over a brandy, Michael compares what they have done to the music with the vibrant restoration of the faded colours
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100