I am Melancholy - Francisco Mañalich
With Tobias Hume as a model, Francisco Mañalich travels through 17th century England, France and Italy, following in the footsteps of the songwriters of the time. A tenor and violist, he sings and accompanies himself, harmonising the basso continuo and performing on various instruments as his inspiration dictates.
Francisco Mañalich was born in Chile. He was steeped in rock culture in his youth and only discovered the viola da gamba and opera singing around the age of twenty. He fell in love with both and consequently moved to Paris, where he also became immersed in the mysteries of medieval music at the Sorbonne. He later studied with the violist, Christophe Coin at the Conservatoire de Paris and explored tenor roles ranging from Mozart to Verdi under the guidance of Christine Schweitzer. Francisco now sings and plays with distinguished early music ensembles and takes part in many opera productions in Europe. He also accompanies himself on the viola da gamba, which he plays standing, resurrecting a forgotten practice from the baroque era.
Johann Sebastian Bach - Suites a violoncello solo senza basso Vol 1 - Elena Andreyev
Johann Sebastian Bach - Suites a violoncello solo senza basso Vol 2 - Elena Andreyev
The six suites can be regarded on one hand as three times two (3 x 2) if we pair the minuets (suites 1 & 2), the bourrées (3 & 4) and the gavottes (5 & 6); and on the other as two sequences of three (2 x 3) suites — Major-minor-Major —, quite distinct from one another despite their similar architecture.
Thus, in the first sequence of three suites, Bach explores the cello’s familiar landscapes in its own “native tongue”; but in the next three, he plunges into its more mysterious, elusive dimension (for the cellist’s fingers as well!), driving the instrument to its very limits in the 4th suite, subjecting it to scordatura and transfiguration in the 5th and 6th. And behold, after the dark and profoundly Christic atmosphere of the 5th suite in C minor, in which its A string is tuned down to G, the cello rises from the tomb into the bright illumination of an added E string: a true epiphany for cello players who can now play the high notes without “forcing” the instrument in thumb positions; celestial and light, the cello's soul is ready to soar towards the bright regions of the D Major key, which Bach often chooses to reflect eternal light.
Si par fortune - Les Joueurs de Traverse
From French chanson to Italian madrigal: in which five flute players bring back to life Renaissance vocal music by means of mere wooden pipes.
Órgano viajero
Les Chants du livre bleu - Marthe Vassallo
Aler m'en veus - Oxyton
Froberger en tête à tête - les Coloquintes
Marc Mauillon : Songline - Itinéraire monodique