Biber: The Rosary Sonatas | Alison McGillivray, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, ...

Biber: The Rosary Sonatas | Alison McGillivray, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, ... | Also at a loss for words

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Biber: The Rosary ...

	Biber: The Rosary Sonatas Alison McGillivray, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, ... Harmonia Mundi Fr., 2004 average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber created a lasting monument in this series of fifteen sonatas depicting the story of Jesus. The unique element in this music is the technique called scordatura, deliberate mistuning of the violin strings for unusual effects. But listeners will be more aware of the its intense nature. Biber doesn't strive for beautiful melodies most of the time; he has a dramatic story to tell, which he does with remarkably imaginative effects. For a sample, try The Ascension, which hardly sounds baroque at all. If that gets you, you'll continue to enjoy the series. There have been very good recordings of this music by Reinhard Goebel and Marianne Ronez. Manze is an excellent musician in ordinary baroque music, but he really excels in wild and crazy pieces (as on his amazing Tartini CD. His realizations of this radical set, in collaboration with the excellent keyboardist Egarr, go straight to the head of the field, and he even adds a brief demonstration of how scordatura works so you don't have to wonder any more. --Leslie Gerber

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Simply Amazing - Disregard the Negative Comments

I doubted whether to buy this or Reinhard Goebel's version of the sonatas. Most reviewers praised this one highly, but one was giving it really bad press, which made me doubt. I haven't bought the other one, and therefore I can't really compare them (though i spent considerable time comparing the previews provided by amazon, i feel the restricted length of the segments and the mediocre quality of the sound don't allow me to speak of other versions), but I have to say this version is just amazing. Manze's performance, far from sounding "stiff and academic", as this minority review suggested, is one of an understated, minimalistic beauty. The sound quality of the recording is exceptional. And the choice to use just one instrument retuned for each sonata, as opposed to used many pre-tuned instruments, does give this version the edge as far as being musically and historically more correct to Biber's original intentions. The change of character in the violin's sound frome one sonata to the next is quite striking and gives depth and texture to the work.

As an aside, I would encourage all prospective buyers who are put off by Octavius' review, to disregard this negative propaganda. Checking his other reviews it seems obvious that this reviewer has some sort of personal agenda of hate towards Andrew Manze. He repeats negative review after negative review by cutting and pasting entire paragraphs avoiding even the effort to write each review from scratch; and probably without even listening to each recording as it seems rather far-fetched that anyone would buy so many records of an artist they disregard so much.

To conclude: if in doubt, preview all versions by yourselves, as they are quite different. I believe those of you who choose this one will not be dissapointed.

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Also at a loss for words

These works, in the hands of Manze and Egarr, are almost too perfect and mystical to be marred by description...and besides, your wonderful reviewers (with one exception) have said it all.
I first heard this version on CBC Radio Canada a few weeks ago via Internet. I almost fainted, and yet, aware that something dramatic had just happened to me, I immediately ordered the set from Amazon . It arrived today, two weeks later, and I'm sitting here listening as if I'd just been cured of tone-deafness. Is this what the Elizabethans meant when they put"hearing" at the top of the list for the senses in the Great Chain of Being? If the Virgin Mary was impregnated through the ear, is this what she heard?

I've been managing and producing in the classical music world for some time, and believe me, I'm at a loss for words of gratitude to Andrew Manze not only for his deeply moving performance, something I've grown used to with him, but for opening the inner ear of anyone who cares to listen to something they once called "the music of the spheres". Long live Biber - thanks to the likes of these performers who never allow their virtuosity nor ego to separate them from what seems to be a spiritual devotion.

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Extraordinarily good

A combination of superb performance with superb music makes this unbeatable. Andrew Manze is one of the great artists of this (or any) time. Biber turns out to be more exciting and profound than many of his more famous contemporaries. Here you will find the inspiration for much of Handel, and a prototype of Bach's Chaconne for violin. One measure of the quality of this recording is that the music supercedes any limitations of a particular taste or musical experience.

Very good, but not the best

I would probably be just as amazed as most other reviewers at Manze's interpretation of this unique set of violin sonatas. However, I am very familiar with Goebel's recording, after which he had to stop playing due to the laming of his left hand (he was left-handed, and he played for some time with his right hand after this incident). Goebel also has an amazing technique, but the passion that he's able to extract out of his violin makes Manze's a very good, yet a bit cold and unconvincing version. Goebel is still the reference.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Tracks
The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 1. The Annunciation: Præludium | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 1. The Annunciation: Aria | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 1. The Annunciation: [Finale] | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 2. The Visitation: Sonata | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 2. The Visitation: Allamanda | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 2. The Visitation: [Finale] | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 3. The Nativity: Sonata | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 3. The Nativity: Courente, Double | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 3. The Nativity: [Finale] | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 4. The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple: Ciacona | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple: Præludium | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple: Allamanda | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple: Guigue | The Five Joyful Mysteries. Sonata 5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple: Sarabanda, Double | The Five Sorrowful Mysteries. Sonata 6. The Agony in the Garden: Lamento | The Five Sorrowful Mysteries. Sonata 7. The Scourging at the Pillar: Allamanda, Variatio | The Five Sorrowful Mysteries. Sonata 7. The Scourging at the Pillar: Sarabanda, Variatio | The Five Sorrowful Mysteries. Sonata 8. The Crowning with Thorns: Sonata | The Five Sorrowful Mysteries. Sonata 8. The Crowning with Thorns: Guigue, Double 1, Double 2 | The Five Sorrowful Mysteries. Sonata 9. The Carrying of the Cross: Sonata | The Five Sorrowful Mysteries. Sonata 9. The Carrying of the Cross: Courente, Double | The Five Sorrowful Mysteries. Sonata 9. The Carrying of the Cross: Finale | The Five Sorrowful Mysteries. Sonata 10. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus: Præludium | The Five Sorrowful Mysteries. Sonata 10. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus: | The Five Sorrowful Mysteries. Sonata 10. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus: Variatio, cont. | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 11. The Resurrection: Sonata | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 11. The Resurrection: Surexit Christus hodie | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 11. The Resurrection: Adagio | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 12. The Ascension: Intrada | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 12. The Ascension: Aria Tubicinum | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 12. The Ascension: Allamanda | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 12. The Ascension: Courente, Double | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 13. The Descent of the Holy Spirit: Sonata | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 13. The Descent of the Holy Spirit: Gavotta | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 13. The Descent of the Holy Spirit: | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 13. The Descent of the Holy Spirit: Sarabanda | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 14. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven: [Sonata] | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 14. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven: Aria | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 15. The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth: Aria, | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 15. The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth: Canzon | The Five Glorious Mysteries. Sonata 15. The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth: Saraba | Passagaalia for unaccompanied violin

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