Broadcasting for Musica Viva in Schools
The photo I have included is of me in front of an iPhone camera, it summarises the year about to pass – lots of Zoom meetings, Zoom concerts, phone calls and endless emails! I feel very lucky in this most difficult year to have been able to transfer some of our Musica Viva in Schools concerts on-line, to appear at Sydney Women’s International Jazz Festival, release our ‘Fika’ recording and to also present a concert for the fabulous Melbourne Digital Concert Hall. Thank you to all of those who worked so hard to ensure as many concerts and artistic events that could go ahead did go ahead. Today I have also packed almost 20 Elysian Fields CDs to go out to happy music lovers – some people are still buying CDs!
Supporting artists – buying via Bandcamp
As I have written before, Bandcamp provides one of the best deals for musicians. Customers can download high quality audio, purchase hard copy CDs and stream music. It’s a great deal. There is even a Bandcamp app to go on your phone which enables you to stream music linked to the speakers of your choice. The Marais Project Bandcamp site is here, Elysian Fields can be accessed via this link.
Viol Women – female viola da gamba players from across the globe
Just a reminder of this mega playlist I’ve put together. It now totals some 60 female viol players and over 12 hours of music. If you have a moment, it is well worth a listen!
Duo Recording session edited and mixed
Tommie Andersson and I are very happy with the results of our ‘Duo’ recording session. The tracks are now edited and mixed and this coming Friday we will shoot the video. So watch out for a full on-line concert in 2021. Thank you to sound engineer Chris Doherty for his great work!
Geog Philipp Telemann 12 Fantasien for solo viola da gamba
As readers may be aware, several years ago Telemann’s long lost solo fantasies for viola da gamba were rediscovered. How wonderful for our instrument that in the 21st century we can add these important works, written in 1735, to our repertoire. Several gambists have recorded the fantasies including Robert Smith, Richard Boothby and Paolo Pandolfo. In the past months the fine German gambist and baroque cellist, Renate Mundi, has released a version on the ‘Perfect Noise’ label. Mundi studied viola da gamba with Hille Perl and cello with Kristin von der Goltz. Recorded in a church rather than a recording studio – Renate told me that the temperature was a bracing 11.5C at one point during the recording – the sound is warm as is the playing. Hers is a more relaxed and measured interpretation than Boothby’s for example but perhaps not as flamboyant as Smith’s. Mundi’s has a beautiful tone, particularly on the top end of the instrument. She strikes a nice balance between over-interpreting the works and allowing the improvisatory, fantasy feeling to flow. This is a recording worth adding to the library. I don’t think it is released on a streaming platform yet. My copy came from Amazon Australia.
In closing all my best wishes for Christmas, the Festive Season and holiday period. Let’s hope and pray 2021 is a better year than 2020!
Jenny Eriksson
Director, The Marais Project, Elysian Fields and Da Vinci’s Apprentice
December 18, 2020