Bella Domna - The medieval woman:
Lover, Poet, Patroness & Saint

GRAMOPHONE CRITICS' CHOICE

'Surely one of the most memorable and touching recitals of the decade' (The Independent)

'Like so much that has been good, innovative and dangerous in recent recordings of early music, this comes from Hyperion' (BBC Record Review)

'A fantastic record. Buy it' (Early Music News)



For their debut recording (made in 1987), the ensemble Sinfonye put together a program focusing on (as the subtitle puts it) "the Medieval Woman: Lover, Poet, Patroness and Saint." Naturally, Sinfonye includes "A chantar m'er," the only lyric by a female troubadour (the Comtessa Beatriz de Dia) to have survived with a melody; they also include two examples of the chanson de femme, a genre that, though written by a man, depicts a female narrator lamenting the loss of her beloved to another. The centerpiece of the disc, however, is the Cantigas de Amigo by the Galician trovador Martin Codax: this six-song cycle depicts a young woman alternately lamenting the absence of her seafaring lover and celebrating his imminent return. Very little is known for certain about how or even whether these songs were accompanied by instruments; Sinfonye uses various combinations of medieval fiddle, hurdy-gurdy, harp, and drum--and even unaccompanied voice. Singer Mara Kiek, whose background is in Balkan folk singing, has a throaty, slightly rustic tone yet sings with a vivid eloquence fully worthy of the material.

Matthew Westphal

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dawniej CDA 66283 / Recording details: September 1987; All Hallows, Gospel Oak, London, United Kingdom; Produced by Martin Compton; Engineered by Tony Faulkner; Release date: April 2006;