PDA

View Full Version : Album Club - Week 144: 06/05/2014: Christina Pluhar (L’Arpeggiata) - All’ Improvviso



Album Club
05-05-2014, 23:00
MartinT is offering us something a bit different this week. Thanks Martin
Don't forget, you should listen to the album in full before voting.

Christina Pluhar (L’Arpeggiata) - All’ Improvviso (2004)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51X0ayA0tNL.jpg

This is something different and requires a recalibration of your brain. L’Arpeggiata are a Paris-based early music ensemble, headed by Christina Pluhar, who perform music based on European folk and traditional themes and have made several successful recordings. Don’t let that put you off! Some of the tunes are really infectious, especially the Spanish-based Folia ones. There are instrumental only songs, incorporating some highly unusual instruments, and sung parts. If you have any leanings towards classical music you won’t have much difficulty with this. Even if you don’t, do give it a try.

One thing that you should know: this is far and away one of the best system test CDs you will ever come across. The recording is simply outstanding and will tell you a lot about soundstage, depth, spaciousness, dynamics, edge definition and overall realistic, natural sound. Just try track 2 (Las Folias) with its opening castanets and fantastic clarinet or track 4 (Romanesca) with the mesmerising hammer-struck dulcimer for a good sampling. Play it at realistic volume and the vivid dynamics will strike you, if your system is up to it. Enjoy!

Spotify:
spotify:album:4bt4Ytdca9kcGGysElYIba

Grooveshark:
Click here for full album (http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/All+improvviso+Ciaccone+Bergamasche+and+Un+Po+Di+F ollie/3403896)

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/AllImprovviso-Ciaccone-Bergamasche-LArpeggiata-Pluhar/dp/B00023B0A4/ref=sr_1_6?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1397458925&sr=1-6&keywords=l%27arpeggiata

YouTube:
WaFcw9Jyie4

AllMusic:
http://www.allmusic.com/album/all-improvviso-ciaccone-bergamasche-un-po-di-follie-mw0000786079

BBC Review:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/fj3n

losenotaminute
06-05-2014, 19:07
I'm sorry to disagree, but I didn't rate this recording at all. It sounds like they have dialled-up quite a bit of reverb and messed around a lot with the sound, and as a consequence the instruments don't sound right to me. I also think some of the playing and singing is quite poor quality. My preference for early music is to just record (or listen) to it live and keep fingers away from the mixing desk....

2/10 for me, sorry!

MartinT
07-05-2014, 10:55
Well I've given it a 10/10 as it's never very far from my player and I consider it to be an exceptional disc.

Tim
07-05-2014, 11:33
I'll give it a fresh listen, but I did try this sometime ago when Martin posted this on Spinning Today - I didn't get on with it, but might have changed my mind now . . . who knows ;)

Bazil
07-05-2014, 11:34
This is something different and requires a recalibration of your brain.

Oh great, after last weeks I was hoping for some bubble gum :doh:

Tim
07-05-2014, 16:00
Well I tried (again) but this does nothing for me I'm afraid. Makes me think of Court Jesters dancing around playing instruments I don't really care for - Renaissance style folk is not something I go for...
Sorry Martin, but only a 3/10 from me.

MartinT
07-05-2014, 16:20
No problem guys, thanks for listening to it.

mr sneff
07-05-2014, 18:42
I listen to a fair bit of early music (favourite composer is Anon :)) and I enjoyed it, particularly the vocal tracks. OK, it's not pure early music, but the introduction of other elements into the mix work well and make the whole album an enjoyable experience. I've saved it as a playlist in Spotify and would definitely listen to it again. Thanks, Martin, an interesting choice!

Bazil
08-05-2014, 19:29
Excuse my ignorance but what is early music ?

MikeMusic
08-05-2014, 20:17
Stunning album

One of the best in the world ever

mr sneff
08-05-2014, 20:30
Excuse my ignorance but what is early music ?

Pre-Baroque http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_music

ruleof72
09-05-2014, 01:47
I've listened to it twice, once on my 2-channel system and once on my headphones. While I wouldn't call myself a lover of this type of music I did find most of the tracks relatively easy to listen to. It has a nice variety of sounds, which makes it interesting.

I have to agree that it is well recorded and I enjoyed the headphone version a lot. My Mad Dog Pro's did a great job of reproducing the sound that was fed to them from my Squeezebox/Beresford Bushmaster MkII/Schiit Magni setup.

7 out of 10 for me, mostly due to the quality recording.

high.spirits
10-05-2014, 10:07
A very nice listen, although I am not a fan of old style folk music. I really liked the Spanish style music.

Thanks for the suggestion Martin - 7/10.

Bazil
10-05-2014, 18:00
All though I wouldn't buy it I'm still going to give this 8/10 I've enjoyed it so much. I don't listen to classical but I grew up on ELP,Wakeman/Yes and enjoy a bit of folk so I fell into this quite quickly also I have recently got an ear for Spanish guitar.

MikeMusic
11-05-2014, 10:50
I'm surprised this isn't much more popular

The music, playing, production and engineering are superb

Not my sort of music at all. It just reaches out and takes me

MartinT
11-05-2014, 11:06
I played it again yesterday, Mike, and still love the performance and sound of the period instruments (especially that giant guitar Christina plays, and the dulcimer). Moreover, it's one of the best recordings on CD format out there. The Spotify version is a real disappointment.

losenotaminute
11-05-2014, 11:22
I played it again yesterday, Mike, and still love the performance and sound of the period instruments (especially that giant guitar Christina plays, and the dulcimer). Moreover, it's one of the best recordings on CD format out there. The Spotify version is a real disappointment.

That's interesting Martin - I couldn't understand why so many people were raving about the recording. Maybe I need to try a better quality recording because I stand by my view that the version I listened to (Spotify HQ) doesn't sound "right". I'll give it another go and see if I change my mind.

P.S. just fired up the first track - where is it recorded? There is so much reverb that it sounds like it's been recorded in a church (or a cave)....

Mr. C
11-05-2014, 11:52
I would agree with Martin on this one it did sound very real and had real depth of feild

Plus the lass can play

MartinT
11-05-2014, 11:56
Hi Lawrence, it was recorded in 2003/04 in the Chapelle de l'hopital Notre-Dame de Bon Secours. It has a lovely big acoustic but I don't find it overly reverberant - certainly not enough to blur the crisp attack of the instruments.

losenotaminute
11-05-2014, 12:20
Hi Lawrence, it was recorded in 2003/04 in the Chapelle de l'hopital Notre-Dame de Bon Secours. It has a lovely big acoustic but I don't find it overly reverberant - certainly not enough to blur the crisp attack of the instruments.

Thanks Martin, that would certainly explain the echo!

Sorry, just not my cup of tea this one. The clarinet playing in particular I find very unpleasant :scratch:

MikeMusic
11-05-2014, 16:47
I played it again yesterday, Mike, and still love the performance and sound of the period instruments (especially that giant guitar Christina plays, and the dulcimer). Moreover, it's one of the best recordings on CD format out there. The Spotify version is a real disappointment.

'Bout time it was back on the main system at some volume

MikeMusic
11-05-2014, 16:50
The clarinet playing in particular I find very unpleasant :scratch:

That is sublime !
Maybe it needs more listens to get into your blood.
I played it a few times before I loved it, but I think there was an inkling at the start.
Unlike Mahavishnu and Birds of Fire which took a very long time and many listens before I was utterly in its power

Barry
11-05-2014, 18:11
Wonderful - absolutely bloody marvellous! I love early (pre-baroque) music, but this recording is new to me.

I listened to it on Grooveshark, via headphones and have no complaints of the sound quality. I must buy myself a copy and look forward to listening to it on my system.

9/10 from me. Thanks Martin for introducing this fine recording to us. Different, but that is what the Album Club should be about.

MartinT
11-05-2014, 20:34
:) (but I think you forgot to vote, Barry).

Barry
11-05-2014, 22:24
:) (but I think you forgot to vote, Barry).

Oops! Now corrected. :doh:

.mus
13-05-2014, 11:51
I had a punt on this as the write-up was interesting and I didn't have any early music.
Lovely stuff! The only thing I find a little grating are (some of) the vocals, so prefer the tracks on which these take a back-seat (nothing specific to this recording - I tend to dislike vocals anyway). I don't know about the streamed version, but an EAC rip of the CD sounds smashing - love the clarinet(?) on track 5 and the violin on track 9.

MartinT
13-05-2014, 12:33
The guitar on track 6 is pretty good, too.

MikeMusic
13-05-2014, 14:41
I had a punt on this as the write-up was interesting and I didn't have any early music.
Lovely stuff! The only thing I find a little grating are (some of) the vocals, so prefer the tracks on which these take a back-seat (nothing specific to this recording - I tend to dislike vocals anyway). I don't know about the streamed version, but an EAC rip of the CD sounds smashing - love the clarinet(?) on track 5 and the violin on track 9.
I don't go for vocals and often avoid, but these seem so well done
Like seeing an old friend when playing this

.mus
13-05-2014, 21:56
Agreed that they're very well done - alas, that's almost a bad thing in this context - a very well performed and recorded sound that I dislike! But still, it only slightly detracts from my enjoyment of the pieces as a whole.
Interesting your comparison to seeing an old friend - as soon as it started I was struck by how familiar (in a good way) it all sounded, but I'm more or less sure that I haven't encountered these pieces before :scratch:

MikeMusic
14-05-2014, 08:02
Agreed that they're very well done - alas, that's almost a bad thing in this context - a very well performed and recorded sound that I dislike! But still, it only slightly detracts from my enjoyment of the pieces as a whole.
Interesting your comparison to seeing an old friend - as soon as it started I was struck by how familiar (in a good way) it all sounded, but I'm more or less sure that I haven't encountered these pieces before :scratch:

I first used that as a metaphor when listening to Squeeze recorded live off The Tube, followed by Jesse Rae - Over the sea (total head case !) and Pat Metheny recorded live off Capital I think. A great tape

Here's m'man

dOad0FU9zF8&feature=kp

and here is that Squeeze session, wasn't on YouTube before


mHviq3unzUo

That is the best performance I have ever seen or heard them do, so totally together as a unit

Barry
16-05-2014, 18:50
My copy arrived yesterday and I haven't changed my mind - it's still wonderful. Thanks for the recommendation Martin!

mr sneff
17-05-2014, 11:07
L'Arpeggiata are on the Early Music Show on R3 1pm today.

loo
19-05-2014, 15:49
Well it was certainly different , I really liked some tracks but others made
Me think of Blackadder , certainly showed up my systems computer audio
Capability or lack of it
6/10 from me
Paul

MartinT
19-05-2014, 16:07
To everyone who tried it, regardless of outcome, thanks for your comments :)