Marco Beasley; Constantinople; Kiya Tabassian
Description
A 17th Century manuscript that was compiled but Albert Bobowski, a Polish musician and orientalist, contains songs of the Italian Renaissance and the Ottoman court.
"A sprinking of spicy tarantellas" BBC Radio 3 Record Review
Bobowski, alias Ali Ufki, was born around 1610 in Poland and worked in Constantinople at the Ottoman court where he was involved with many diplomats,clerics and travellers as translator, language teacher, mediator and adviser.
Thanks to his diverse skills and profound knowledge of the Islamic-Ottoman and Christian-European cultures, he became a valued mediator between the two worlds during his lifetime.
In this collection of European and Ottoman vocal and instrumental, sacred and secular, court and popular music, Ali Ufki switches between languages and music genres with a fantastic ease and naturalness.
Together with the Italian tenor Marco Beasley, the ensemble Constantinople makes this collection accessible again with that very same ease and naturalness. The musicians brilliantly succeed in congenially bridging the gap between the cultures if Europe and the Orient, just as Ali Ufki did centuries ago.
Tracklisting
Soloists, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Orchestra of the 18th Century, Frans Bruggen
Orchestra of the 18th Century, Frans Bruggen
Eric Hoeprich, Teunis van der Zwart, Orchestra of the 18th Century, Frans Bruggen
Jonatan Alvarado; Ariel Abramovich
Graindelavoix; Bjorn Schmelzer
Paolo Pandolfo
Orphenica Lyra; Jose Miguel Moreno
Jose Miguel Moreno; Emma Kirkby
