the australian jewish news
November 27, 1998
Exotic Sephardic Journey continues
13167 THE SEPHARDIC EXPERIENCE,
VOLUME 2: APPLES AND HONEY - THE RENAISSANCE PLAYERS,
WINSOME EVANS - DIRECTOR
Anyone fortunate enough to have attended the Renaissance Players' two–and–threequarters
of an hour concert last August at Temple Emanuel will be on familiar
and friendly ground with the second of their Sephardic Experience CD
series.
A third is foreshadowed in the comprehensive booklet—a scholarly
40 pages which discusses Rosh Hashanah and places its significance in
the context of the collection of early Spanish–Jewish songs and
Mediterranean dance tunes that comprise this exotic disc.
The booklet begins with quotations indicating—in case anyone should
imagine the disc to be academic—"Melissa means honey–bee
and true to your name, you fill my mouth with honey–kisses; but
when you ask for your fee, o how you sting!"—Marcus Argentarius;
and "I am an apple tossed by your beloved. Say yes, lady Cross–Patch,
we are both going to waste."—Plato.
The performances are directed by the Players' founder, Professor Winsome
Evans, of the University of Sydney, who plays seven instruments and
is the producer of the disc series. She arranged the compositions, and
the annotations and translation of lyrics are also her work.
Highlighting the international nature of the music industry today,
the recording was dome at St Peter's in Sydney, both Sony and Festival
had a hand in it, the booklet was printed in Germany and the label is
Celestial Harmonies, which has its base in Arizona.
Most of the 14 tracks are songs, and they tend to be more rewarding
than the purely instrumental numbers: not that I have any criticism
of them, but the richness and variety of colour and harmonies provided
by the chorus, alto Mara Keik and sopranos Melissa Irwin and Mina Kanaridis,
are welcome.
There is sheer beauty in the final track, Durme, Durme, Mi Angelico,
with the chorus, Kanardis and Winsome Evans on one of her more conventional
instruments, the harp. A wedding song, La Novia Entre Flores,
with the chorus and Irwin, is readily appealing. And there is charm
in the traditional Balkans song Yo Hanino.
Evans' notes talk of its "quaintly childlike dialogue" and
the use of the terms "sun" for God and "moon" for
the people of Israel. The quaintness includes a series of sharply upward
vocal inflections, the voices taking off like so many whoops, but always
musical and easy on the ear.
The instrumental numbers are also rich in variety. Sure, some tend,
to almost 21st–century Western tastes, to be repetitive and limited
in musical development, but this venture into the past is more than
intensely interesting—it is a delight in itself.
Lending further variation in sonority and colour are Geoff Sirmai's
always eloquent poetry readings. The sound quality is rich and lively,
St Peters obviously a suitable recording venue.
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