Trio HANTAÏ - baroque chamber music, Taipei 2016/11/26

Time: 2016/11/26, 19:30-21:30 (approximately)
Venue: Recital Hall, National Concert Hall, Taipei
Sponsor: Taiwan Early Music Society and Formosa Baroque Ensemble
Performers:
Jérôme Hantaï (Viola da Gamba)
Marc Hantaï (Baroque Flute)
Pierre Hantaï (Harpsichord)

Program:

Composer	Years	Work	Years	Comparisons
Jacques-Martin Hotteterre "Le Romain"	1674-1763	Pièces pour la flûte traversiere, livre I, Op.2 No. 1 in D	1708	Philippe Allain-Dupré (Flute), Yasuko Uyama-Bouvard (Harpsichord), Philippe Pierlot (Viol)
Jean-Marie Leclair	1697-1764	Sonata Op. 2 No. 8 in D, for flute/violin, viol and b.c.	1728	unidentified (1:05:21), Kuijken et al, (on similar pieces)
Marin Marais	1656-1762	Pièces de viole, Livre II, Suite No.8 in A	1701	Pierre Hantaï et. al.,
Johann Sebastian Bach	1685-1750	Trio sonata in G for 2 flutes and b.c., BWV 1039 (version for flute, viola da gamba and basso continuo)	1736-41	Jean-Claude Gérard et. al., Pahud / Pinnock
Jean-Philippe Rameau	1656-1762	Pièces de clavecin en concerts: La Laborde from RCT 8, La Timide from RCT 9, La Marais from RTC 11	1741	Leonhardt, Brüggen, Kuijken & Kuijken

Thoughts:
I have admired Pierre Hantaï's harpsichord performance for years, treasuring especially his 1992 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations. His ongoing project of recording all keyboard music of Domenico Scarlatti has received universal acclaim. It was therefore really exciting for me to be able to hear him with his brothers Marc and Jérôme in concert.

And what a lovely concert it was! I only felt a bit restless during Bach's BWV 1039, transcribed from two flutes to flute + viol. (Perhaps I was too used to hearing it in two flutes?) Marc H's baroque flute seemed to take a while to warm up and the beginning of Hotteterre had problems with intonation and breath control. There was also a small problem with balance in Hotteterre, where the flute was often overpowered by the viol. Other than that, the concert was pure delight. I was particularly impressed by their Leclair and Rameau and wished there was a concert devoted entirely to Rameau's Pièces de Clavecin en Concerts. Not since I heard of the classic recording by Rousset et. al. have I heard of such a fine performance! It was a pity that they only programmed 3 pieces out of 15 in five suites (RCT 7-11). For encores, Hantaï brothers played another piece from Ramea's Pièces de Clavecin en Concerts, followed by a piece by François Couperin (le grande).

Thank you, friends in Taiwan Early Music Society and Formosa Baroque Ensemble, for making this concert possible!(*) If there is any concert by the Formosa Ensemble in the near future, I am going!

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(*) Unfortunately, Ping has other plans and can not go to the Sunday recital.

Andreas Staier Taiwan Debut 2016/11/23

Time: 2016/11/23, 19:30-21:30 (approximately)
Venue: National Concert Hall, Taipei
Performers: Andreas Staier (piano)

Program:

Composer	Years	Work	Year	Comparisons
Robert Schumann	1810-56	Selected pieces from Album für die Jugend, Op. 68	1848	Badura-Skoda, Demus 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, ..., 43
Robert Schumann	1810-56	7 Klavierstücke in Fughetten Form, Op. 126	1852-3	Demus, Endres
Robert Schumann	1810-56	Kinderszenen, Op. 15	1838	Kempff vs. Horowitz I, II, III, IV Argerich, Lupu, Haskil
Franz Schubert	1797-1823	Piano Sonata in B-flat, D. 960, No. 21	1828	Richter 1972 studio, Brendel 1997, Pollini, Schiff, Staier (fortepiano)

Encores:
J. S. Bach: French Suite No. 5 in G, BWV 816 - Sarabande (cf. Rousset (at 5:24), Schiff)

Thoughts:
This is Andreas Staier's first visit to Taiwan and my first concert with Staier while "vacationing" in Taiwan, so I was anxious to learn about it. Unfortunately, it was hard to guess what was to happen from the scanty information provided by Blooming Arts. The only thing I was relatively sure was the instrument would be the fortepiano. After all, I know of no recital or recording by Staier on any modern piano. Personally, I was impressed by Blooming Arts for inviting Staier and curious about the trouble it must have gone through to locate a fine fortepiano for the occasion, knowing that while a fine harpsichord is available locally, a fortepiano might not.... -- How wrong I was!

Staier performed on Monday 11/21 and Wednesday 11/23, and I only attended Wednesday concert. An unfortunate decision was made to perform both recitals on Steinway Concert Grand Model D, provided by the National Concert Hall, likely due to availability. Staier opened the Wednesday recital with selected pieces from Schumann's Album for the Young. His tone was round and beautiful, with quite a heavy dose of sustain pedal and sometimes sostenuto one. At first it was quite enjoyable, but very quickly the relative shortage of tone palettes started to show and sonic fatigue set in. This was a striking contrast with the richness of his fortepiano recordings. Listen, for example, to his own performance on fortepiano of Schubert's B-flat major sonata, and the difference is almost like day and night. Schubert's infinite tonal meandering, especially in the second movement, produced much more striking effects there. This phenomenon really drained part of enjoyment from this recital, and I was expecting a lot for it. (Not unreasonably, I think, given what I heard from his recordings.) Why, may I ask, that we have to have Staier flying hundreds of miles only to perform on the instrument he is perhaps not entirely comfortable with?

Staier's encore piece of Sarabande from Bach's French Suite No. 5 was exquisite, even on the Steinway. By the way, Staier performed all pieces with sheet music but without page turner.

My heart was heavy after the recital. I don't know about the Monday recital, but the Wednesday one was very poorly attended, only about a quarter of designated seats (excluding the 4th floor) were occupied. With disappointing attendance and wrong choice of instrument, I am afraid the Taiwanese audience will not have the second chance of Staier, now at 60. Hopefully, the next time a more sensitive organization, like the Taiwan Early Music Society, will take charge of such events. By the way, I look forward to the concert they sponsored in a few days.

Paavo Järvi, Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen 2016/11/12

Time: 2016/11/22, 19:30-22:00 (approximately)
Venue: National Concert Hall, Taipei
Performers: Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano), Paavo Järvi (conductor), Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (official)

Program:

Composer	Years	Work	Year	Comparisons
Robert Schumann	1810-56	Overture to Genoveva, Op. 81	1850	Masur (complete), Bernstein
Ludwig van Beethoven	1770-1827	Piano Concerto in E-flat, No. 5, Op. 73	1809-11	Barenboim 2007, Pollini / Böhm, Gilels / Ludwig, Backhaus / Schmidt-Isserstedt
Johannes Brahms	1833-97	Symphony in c, No. 1, Op. 68	1855-76	Furtwängler 1951, Munch Paris, Toscanini NBC, Barenboim CSO, Gardiner ORR

Encores:

Composer	Years	Works	Year	Comparisons
Arnold Schoenberg	1874-51	Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11 No.3,  Sechs kleine Klavierstücke, Op. 19, Nos. 1, 2	1913	Pollini complete, Op. 11: Pollini, Gould, Op. 19: Pollini, Gould, Beroff
Johannes Brahms	1833-97	Hungarian Dances, Nos. 3, 6	1855-76	Iván Fischer, Claudio Abbado

Thoughts:
From the first note of Schumann's Overture to Genoveva, we knew we were listening to a vibrant orchestra with an energetic director. The conductor Paavo Järvi was named the prestigious 2015 Gramophone Artist of the Year. Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen has been on the rise since Järvi's arrival in 2004. This team has impressed the musical world with The Beethoven Project, a name given to its refreshing and vital accounts of Beethoven's symphony cycle. From there we can already deduce many characteristics of this team. It is obvious to any discerning ears that its interpretations are strongly influenced by the historically informed performance practice, even as they play the modern instruments: Järvi conducts at tempos very close to Beethoven's metronome marks and often pushes the tempos and dynamics beyond the usual boundaries for novel effects. He also favors leaner string texture and sports sharp attacks on the down beats, much like one would expect from Nikolaus Harnoncourt or John Eliot Gardiner, to name two familiar figures in the HIP movement. Even though the Bremen orchestra does not have star soloists in its roster, it is remarkably responsive to Järvi's every direction. This is indeed extraordinary as Järvi takes elastic tempos and rarely let a music phrase go by without taking his baton to lovingly shape the music one way or the other.

In the Genoveva(*) overture, Järvi paid special attention to harmonic shifts. Owing to the relatively smaller size of the orchestra and especially to Järvi's direction, the Schumann gained much contrapuntal clarity and each part can be heard clearly even during the orchestral tutti. It was the "chamber-music-like" quality in the best sense of the word, as the name of the orchestra might have suggested.

With a small pause allowing the stage workers to place the piano in the front center of the stage, and other small changes of instrumentation, we were joined by Pierre-Laurent Aimard in the Beethoven's E-flat concerto, Op. 73. Aimard is of course especially renowned for his sensitive and authoritative interpretations of the twentieth-century masters, e.g., Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez among others, having studied with Yvonne Loriod and worked in Ensemble InterContemporain under the direction of Boulez. One fully expected that he would bring different insights into the work from his distinguished background and from his recordings with Harnoncourt.

Indeed, from the piano arpeggio following the opening E-flat chord we knew immediately this was not just "another Emperor". The boldness of the interpretation was extraordinary. Aimard often stretched the tempos to the extreme, even far more than the conductor would allow himself. Instead of hammering the keys to produce sonority rising above the orchestra, he caressed them with low wrist position to produce singing tones. Together with the conductor, he underlined any major events and emphasized contrasts, as in the development of the opening movement. Aimard and Järvi dispensed the more traditional, romantic slow movement, favoring faster tempi and more classical, Mozart-like, approach. They were both fired up in the final Rondo, with a hair-rising ending.

In the end, if one has strong opinions about how Beethoven should be played, one might find Aimard's approach idiosyncratic or even eccentric. Whatever one's opinion was, there is no denial that Aimard was superbly equipped to play this, but he and Järvi chose not to play the E-flat concerto like a warhorse. Instead they opted to explore and discover the nuances by trying out unusual phrasings and novel way of accents and attacks. It was a remarkably refreshing and interesting performance, if sometimes a bit too extreme for my taste. There were also occasions of sonic imbalances between the piano and the orchestra, especially in the first two movements, due in part to Aimard's refusal to produce "bigger" sound, I think. Still my listening partner CY liked it a lot and Ping immediately requested to hear Aimard's recordings with Harnoncourt when we will return home in a few weeks.

Before the encore, Aimard spoke about the "missing composer" from today's program of three Austro-German masters: Arnold Schoenberg. He then played Schoenberg's Op. 11 No. 3, followed by Nos. 1 and 2 from Op. 19. Here one could see how his piano tone production was strongly influenced by his training in the modern piano repertoire, paying special attention to timbre and attuned to extreme low dynamics (pppp), as in, e.g., Anton Webern, and Boulez. 

After the intermission, Järvi and his band played Brahms with chamber-like quality alluded above. With smaller forces and different articulations and attacks, they brought revelatory clarity and sonic dynamism into Brahms. Like Wilhelm Furtwängler, whose Brahms I consider still far and away the best I have ever heard, Järvi employed elastic tempos throughout. This is a risky approach, as the elasticity could produce incoherence or total collapse if the structure isn't there. Fortunately, Järvi made it work and raised the symphonic narrative and theatricality to the next level. (Make no mistake, however, their approaches are absolutely completely different on the surface. WF would have none of these HIP-inspired gestures.) In the end Järvi managed to conjure up one exciting Brahms' c minor symphony, indeed one of more exciting I have heard in recent years.

For encores, Järvi and his forces played two of Brahms' beloved Hungarian Dances, with the tempi playfully stretched to the extremes, even more pronounced than their recorded performances (No. 3 and No. 6). Interestingly, in a way this seemed very apt for the occasion (as encores).

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(*) The story of Genevieve of Brabant was quoted in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time.

Yuja Wang, Michael Tilson Thomas and San Francisco Symphony 2016/11/13

Time: 2016/11/13, 20:00-22:30 (approximately)
Venue: National Concert Hall, Taipei
Performers: Yuja Wang (piano), Michael Tilson Thomas (conductor), San Francisco Symphony (official)

Program:

Composer	Years	Work	Year	Comparisons
Michael Tilson Thomas	1944-	Agnegram	1988	N/A
Ludwig van Beethoven	1770-1827	Symphony in c, No. 5	1804-8	Calos Kleiber, Furtwängler 1947, 1950 VPO, comparison
Frédéric Chopin	1810-49	Piano Concerto in f, No. 2	1830	Zimerman, Cortot mvt1, 2, 3, Argerich
Igor Stravinsky	1882-1971	The Firebird Suite (1919 Edition)	1910/9	Boulez / CSO, Gergiev / VPO (complete), Stravinsky (suite)

Encores:
Yuja Wang: Franz Liszt's piano transcription of Franz Schubert's lied Gretchen am Spinnrade, (12 Lieder von Franz Schubert, S. 558, No. 8). (Listen: Kissin, Wang)
MTT/SFS: no encore

Thoughts:
What an amazing musician Yuja Wang is! At 29, she has already dazzled the world for more than 10 years. Chopin's f minor concerto was written when he was at the tender age of 19. The composer crammed extravagance of fantastic ideas and fountains of beautiful melodies into apparent Classical structure, so the balance between the Classicism and Romanticism is a delicate issue. Further complicating this is that the piano part is written in the Style Brillant with relatively weak (IMHO) orchestral part. Therefore, the majority of the work lies on the soloist. Wang brought to this familiar piece her artistry and youthful exuberance. Here is Chopin of elegance, warmth and thoughtfulness, while never lacking in personality. A rare combination! For encore, she played Liszt/Schubert's Gretchen am Spinnrade beautifully, showcasing her affinity with Romantic genre. As any pianist would know, the most difficult part of Liszt's piano transcriptions of lieder lies in the voicing of the original melodies, often in the middle register and shared between the two hands. Wang performed phenomenally well.

On the other hand, MTT, now 71, seemed a bit tired. I had the impression that he just went through the motion for today's performance. Surely nobody doubts his immense talents in music and management. He has created fine business models for the symphony orchestras in the 21st C., for example. However, I miss the energy he brought to music when he just joined SF Symphony as music director in 1995.(*) I want bolder gestures and more personal statement. In Beethoven's c minor symphony, for example, the interpretation is surprisingly conventional and uninvolving. Decades of scholarly works and experiments by other conductors/orchestras mean little to him, I guess. Perhaps like Arturo Toscanini before him, it is more important to study the scores to "get ideas from Beethoven himself". If so, our understanding of the music must be very different. The instrumental balance, for example, sacrificed the countermelodies in the cellos/DB in favor of higher registers. The forward momentum, which I personally consider a crucial element in the work, is barely there. This is not Beethoven as revolutionary, but very relaxed, almost museum-piece Beethoven. (Comparisons: Calos Kleiber, Furtwängler 1947.)

MTT fared better in his own work of Agnegram, some kind of symphonic march written for SF Symphony's patroness Agnes Albert. MTT uses A-G-E-E flat-A-A-B flat-E-D-B for Ag(n)es Albert as the motif, and from this many (all?) themes are drawn. With "Agnes theme" opening the work, the piece is filled with jazzy rhythm and occasional quotations. It is immediately identifiable as a composition by a living American composer. (Many can blindly guess it. I did.) The work is in ABA form, with noisy opening section, somewhat episodic middle section, and ending with the entire orchestra blaring cacophony juxtaposed with "happy tunes". The orchestra gave MTT's occasional piece a zesty reading.

The performance of 1919 version of Firebird Suites was fine, but, to me, did not entirely capture the vivid exotic colors and rhythms Stravinsky bestowed on this popular piece. Listen to Stravinsky's own recording (video), or Boulez / CSO, Gergiev / VPO for example, and the difference is there for everyone to hear.

Still, this is an enjoyable evening, if only for Yuja Wang's playing. I understand that piano recital is, strangely, not particularly popular in Taipei, but would anyone consider brokering a piano recital by Yuja in Taipei in the near future?

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(*) Perhaps MTT has stayed in SF Symphony for too long, which is bad for him and for the Symphony. SFS may have been one of the highest paid orchestra in the world, and MTT one of the highest paid musical directors, but the result is not very encouraging. Surely the level of proficiency has progressed since 1995, but at that time SFS was not nearly as well paid if memory serves. -- Am I becoming too critical? If so, it is only because I like SFS (my first "home symphony") and would love to see more young American conductors as music directors of major American orchestras, much like MTT/SFS in 1995.

NSO What is Composition II - Magic, Madness, and Macabre, 2016/11/13

Time: 2016/11/13, 14:30-16:45 (approximately)
Venue: National Concert Hall, Taipei
Performers:

Yuan-Pu CHIAO	焦元溥	Lecturer
Meng-Chun LIN	林孟君	Soprano
Jo-Pei WENG	翁若珮	Mezzo-Soprano
Chika MIYAZAKI	宮崎千佳	Flute
Tung Nguyen HOANG	阮黃松	Oboe
Vera HSU	許惠品	Piano

Program:

Composer	Years	Work	Year	samples
Henri Brod	1799-1839	Fantaisie sur la 'Scène de la folie' de Lucia di Lammermoor, op.57	>1835	brod
Robert Schumann	1810-56	"In der Fremde" (No.1) and "Waldesgespräch" (No.3) from Liderkreis, Op. 39	>1840	Fischer-Dieskau
Carl Reinecke	1824-1910	Sonata Undine for flute and piano, Op. 167, Mvt 1	1882	Galway
Manuel de Falla	1876-1946	Canción del amor dolido, Danza ritual del fuego, Canción del fuego fatuo, from El Amor Brujo	1914-5	Stokowski, Verrett
Giuseppe Verdi	1813-1901	"Stride la vampa" from Il Trovatore	<1853	Horne
Modest Mussorgsky	1839-81	Marfa's Divination (Scene 2) from Khovanshchina	1872-80	Ossipova
György Ligeti	1923-2006	Mysteries of the Macabre, 3 arias from Le Grand Macabre	1974-7	Rattle, Hannigan

Thoughts:
Vera Hsu's contribution is immense in this lecture/recital. She appears in all 7 works and had to do some vocalization in Ligeti's Mysteries of the Macabre. The insider's information states that it is half a year's hard work. Hats off to Vera! All other soloists are more than competent. I have not heard the popular Brod's oboe piece and Reinecke's flute piece for a long time, so it is a welcome reunion for me. Good programming, Dr. Chiao!

Jordi Savall & Hespèrion XXI－"The traveller of time", Taipei Concert on 2016/11/1

Time: 2016/11/1
Venue: National Concert Hall, Taipei
Performers: Jordi Savall & Hespèrion XXI (約第．沙瓦爾與晚星二十一古樂團)
琵琶（PIPA）：俞玲玲
古箏（ZHENG）：劉欣
晚星二十一古樂團
奈伊橫笛（NEY）：莫斯林．拉赫爾（MOSLEM RAHAL）
亞美尼亞雙簧管、木笛（DUDUK & BELUL）：海伊格．薩利克悠姆先（HAÏG ARIKOUYOUMDJIAN）
瑞巴布琴、薩羅德琴（REBAB & SAROD）: 達烏德．薩德萊伊（DAUD SADOZAI）
桑圖爾琴（SANTUR）：德米特里．桑尼斯（ DIMITRI PSONIS）
卡龍琴（KANUN）：哈坎．岡格什（HAKAN GÜNGÖR）
烏德琴（OUD）：約德爾．托肯（YURDAL TOKCAN）
打擊（PERCUSSION）：大衛．麥悠爾（DAVID MAYORAL）
中世紀維列、雷貝克古提琴、瑞巴布琴與音樂總監（VIELLE, REBEC, REBAB & DIRECTION）：約第．沙瓦爾（JORDI SAVALL）

Program: lbn Battuta “The traveller of time: Part II, 1333 – 1392” (漫步的心音朝聖者)

Year	Event (歷史紀事)	Music (演出音樂)
1333	The take of possession of the last Mongolian emperor in China drove to an extended civil war	‘Flowers and Moon over Spring River (Chunjiang huayueye)', pipa and zheng
	蒙古帝國末代皇帝遭逢內亂奪權	《春江花月夜》，琵琶與古箏合奏
1334	Ibn Battuta in Constantinople	Byzantine dance: Erotókritos (compare)
	伊本・巴圖塔在君士坦丁堡	拜占庭舞曲
1335	in Kabul	‘Laïli Djân', Persian song and dance
	在喀布爾	《親愛的剌伊里》，波斯歌舞曲
1336	Ibn Battuta in India	Raga Muddugare Yashoda
	伊本・巴圖塔在印度	印度古典拉格
1337	Beginning of the 100 Years'War	La Quarte Estampie Royal
	英法百年戰爭	中世紀艾斯坦碧舞曲
1340	Ottoman expansion in Balkan	Muhayyer Peşrev, Ottoman march
	奧斯曼帝國進佔巴爾幹半島	土耳其古典木卡姆，奧斯曼進行曲
1345	Trip to the South of Asia and in China	‘Rainy Night on Banana Panel (Jiaochuang yeyu)', zheng
	南亞與中國之旅	《蕉窗夜雨》，古箏演奏
1346	The big return to Morocco	Dance of the soul, Nastaran (at 51:30, ney and instr.)
	重返摩洛哥	靈魂之舞，奈伊橫笛演奏
1348	The Black plague in Europe	Lamento di Tristano
	黑死病席捲歐洲	崔斯坦的輓歌
1349	First Chinese settlement in Singapore. Beginning of the Chinese colonisation of the southwest Asia	‘Dance of Yi people (Yizu wuqu)', pipa
	首批華人定居新加坡，為華人移民亞洲西南之濫觴	《彝族舞曲》，琵琶演奏
1349	Boccaccio writes “The Decameron”	Istampitta: Saltarello
	薄伽丘創作《十日談》	義大利薩爾塔列洛舞曲
1350	Ibn Battuta visits Granada in Al-Andalus	Muwashah Ya man Laibd Bihi Chamoulo
	伊本・巴圖塔遊歷盎達魯西亞的格拉納達	阿拉伯古典詩歌舞曲
1351	Uprising of White Lotus in North China	‘Stream and Mountain (Gaoshan liushui)', zheng
	白蓮教於中國北方起義	《高山流水》，古箏演奏
1352	Ibn Battuta crosses the Sahara	Kevokê, The Wind Dance (ney)
	伊本・巴圖塔穿越撒哈拉沙漠	科沃克，舞曲
1353	The Empire of Mali	‘Kouroukan Fouga' (instr.)
	馬利王國	《法典》，器樂
1354	Pierre III conquests Sardinia	La Manfredina (Trecento Mss.)
	皮埃爾三世征服義大利薩丁島	義大利舞曲 (十四世紀手稿)
1356	Zhu Yuanzhang revolts against the Mongolians	‘The Spring of the Mountain Tian Shan (Tianshan zhi chun)', pipa
	朱元璋起義推翻蒙古王朝	《天山之春》，琵琶演奏
1359	Murat I succeeds his father the sultan Ohrhan Gazi	Makām-ı Çargah Sirto
	穆拉特一世繼承蘇丹王位	土耳其古典木卡姆，奈伊橫笛演奏
1368	Yuan Mongols are evicted from Beijing and the Ming Dynasty is founded	‘The Song of the Border (Saishang qu)', pipa and zheng
	蒙古人被逐出北京、大明立國	《塞上曲》，琵琶與古箏合奏
1377	Death of Ibn Battuta	Arabic Lament (duduk, ney) (compare at 7:00)
	伊本・巴圖塔辭世	阿拉伯輓歌，亞美尼亞雙簧管與奈伊橫笛演奏
1392	End of Mongolian domination on China	‘Walking on the Street (Xing jie sihe)', zheng, Ancient music from south-east China, Celebrating and wished harmony of nature and human
	蒙古帝國衰敗結束中國境內統治	《行街》，合奏，中國江南絲竹音樂，慶賀與祈願人與自然之和諧共存
1400	Beginning of the Renaissance in Italy	Song & dance: Hermosa muchachica (improvisations)
	義大利文藝復興運動開始	《美麗的小女孩》，歌舞曲

Thoughts:
This program centered on the second part of the remarkable traveler lbn Battuta's travelogue, from North Africa, Middle East and Persia, to Asian Minor, Constantinople and Russian Steppes, to India and China. In a sense, what was presented was an impressionistic musical journey of selected items in Battuta's travelogue.

The music style was varied, reflecting the diversity of regions in the travelogue. One sees many regional instruments, as can be found in the  official program notes. The music were all based on monophonic music in different tonal systems, although the lack of chordal sonics did not stop the performers for displaying superlative musicianship. Each member of the ensemble was given at least one occasion to showcase her/his virtuosity.

For encores, Savall and his ensemble played an instrumental version of Ave Maria based on an old Chinese melody, and a "concerto grosso" (for lack of a better term), or ritornello, based upon Turkish dance music (with soli sandwiched between tutti ritornello).

P.S. A friend (N.K., who is more an expert on this repertoire than I) complained about the use of microphone. Personally I thought that was inevitable due to the choice of instruments. The huge discrepancy of the volumes produced by these instruments will render some of them completely inaudible when played together without amplification. Fortunately, the amplification was expertly done, and did not interfere with much of my listening.