Title: Approaches to Heaven
Product review: For Octavius, the violas in this version of the "Sonnerie" groan, "in slow agony," whereas they should be "whirling feverishly and spiraling towards a heaven-like ecstacy [sic]." To my way of thinking, Savall's feverishly fast virtuoso version is dead wrong, destroying the aching sense of earth-bound melancholy that is so hypnotic (and which I think Marais intended). Nor is a heaven-like ecstasy always conveyed by speed (think of Bach's slow choruses). Of the several "Sonneries" in my collection, this is the only one I can hear any number of times without diminishing the effect. The recorded sound is superb, with an "in the room" presence. Altogether a truly fine disc to treasure.
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