Recordings

This fascinating project brings together troubadour songs and related repertory from southern France and Iberia of the 12th and 13th centuries. All contemplate the human-divine relationship in many poetic guises, from wry moral fables to barely sublimated love songs, and in attitudes from anguished despair to serene joy. The execution is as strong as the concept. Azema is a distinguished veteran, noted for her performances with Joel Cohen and the Boston Camerata, and she sings--and recites--here with clear, fresh voice and compelling narrative power. The project seems to be wholly hers, from research to liner notes, but she is effectively joined by other early music luminaries playing period instruments with pertinent grace and dancing, rhythmic point.