Although viola da gamba players no longer enjoy the fame and respected positions they held during the 17th century when composer/gamba virtuoso Marin Marais served in the court of Louis XIV, if you follow such things today, you certainly have or soon will hear of the young virtuoso on this recording. Argentinian-born Juan Manuel Quintana has thoroughly mastered critical aspects of ornamentation while infusing his playing with an individual style born of a special and sparingly-used nervous vibrato technique and expressive and varied bowing. The program includes Marais’ famous Suite “Le Labyrinthe”, a musically symbolic journey of “a man lost in a labyrinth”, and three other suites that proudly and fully display the traditional elements of French dance–courante, sarabande, gigue, rondeau, etc. One of the most delightful and curiously characterful pieces is the final “Rondeau moitié pincé et moitié coup d’archet” (half plucked and half bowed) movement of the A minor Suite, whose atmosphere of fun and spookiness clearly was enjoyed by Quintana and theorbo player Dolores Costoyas. The “Sarabande” of the Suite in D major is as beautiful a gamba tune as you will ever hear. The difficult recording balances presented by these three quite different instruments are mostly accomplished, although the lower registers of gamba and theorbo seem to enjoy the resonant acoustic space a little too much. This is a fine addition to the catalog and a good introduction both to Quintana’s art and to the music of one of France’s most fruitful and tuneful periods.
