マショー: ザ・ライオン・オヴ・ノービリティ

タイトルの「気高き獅子」とは(おそらく)フランス王ジャン2世のことであり、このアルバムで最も壮大な楽曲は、1356年のポワティエの戦いにおけるフランスの敗北という歴史的出来事に対する嘆きとなっています。他の部分では、マショーの主人公は、宮廷恋愛の喜びと悲しみを執拗なほど詳細に考察し続けています。
ユニバーサル・ミュージック/IMS

There are various collections of music by Guillaume de Machaut (ca. 1300-1377) on the market. They tend to have a certain sameness and to hit a few well-known works. One of those is probably the first meta composition in the European repertory, the rondeau Ma fin est mon commencement (My end is my beginning), and that is indeed heard here, in a fine, forceful performance. However, there are also features that put this release by the Orlando Consort ahead of the competition. The program includes a varied selection of Machauts composition types, including three of the monophonic pieces that are often left out but that are essential to an understanding of his work. When sung clearly and sensitively, as they are here, they are the purest distillation of Machauts ability to fuse formal intricacy with his own poetic subjectivity. That subjectivity is on full display in the 18-minute lai En demantant et lamentant, a remarkable first-person work probably written to commemorate the defeat and capture of Machauts probable patron John II of France, the Lion of Nobility of the albums title, in the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. Various methods of performing this work have been proposed; the Orlando Consort, probably correctly, chooses to sing it without combining the texts. The booklet will be very helpful for those new to Machaut, and buyers will also get a terrific medieval painting of a lion and another of John II. A church was not an ideal choice for this repertory, but the sound is clear and does not add unwanted layers of sacralization. A fine choice for Machaut newcomers and enthusiasts alike; it brings Machauts music alive.