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Le Chant des Muses - Urpina, Hinojosa, Oyarzabal, Brovelli, Laguna

Le Chant des Muses - Urpina, Hinojosa, Oyarzabal, Brovelli, Laguna

Eudora Records  EUD-SACD-2502

Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid

Classical


Works by Isabella Leonarda, Francesca Caccini, Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Maddalena Casulana et al

Anna Urpina (violin)
María Hinojosa (soprano)
Daniel Oyarzabal (harpsichord)
Nicola Brovelli (cello)
Nacho Laguna (theorbo)


Violinist Anna Urpina, joined by soprano María Hinojosa, harpsichordist Daniel Oyarzabal, cellist Nicola Brovelli and theorbist Nacho Laguna, unveils a vibrant journey through music by women composers from the Renaissance and Baroque to the present day. Featuring world-premiere recordings of works by Isabella Leonarda, Francesca Caccini, Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Maddalena Casulana and others, the album also embraces contemporary voices Zulema de la Cruz and Helena Cánovas. A celebration of creativity across centuries, Le Chant des Muses gives new life to music too long unheard.

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DXD recording

Recorded September 23-25, 2024
Auditori de Girona, Sala Montsalvatge
Reviews (1)
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Review by Adrian Quanjer - October 21, 2025

Is it a mistake to believe that increased interest in female composers is a recent phenomenon? Is it a mistake to think that there were practically no female composers before Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann? With this new Eudora release, the answer is Yes. The subtitle ‘Forgotten Works by Female Composers’ does not seem unusual. Labels and musicians are all on the lookout for forgotten ‘jewels’, and if they have been written by female composers, so much the better. But with the veil lifted by reading the liner notes, we enter another world, the world of women “endowed with grace, beauty and intelligence, possessing the same level of literary knowledge as men. Educated in dance and music…”

Twelve pieces by twelve composers, starting with a Sonata by Isabella Leonarda, ‘La Musa Novarese’, from the end of the 17th Century, and ending with ‘A false Designe to be Gruel’, by Lady Mary Dering. Covering the musical history from the Renaissance to the Classical period in a superb variety of musical inventions, with two exceptions, though. Both are nonetheless quite different.

Be warned. Zulema de la Cruz’s (born 9 March 1958) ‘Canciones de Amor’ jump unexpectedly from your speakers. If you are not a modern a-tonal opera fan, and if your player allows you a pre-selection of tracks, then by all means do. In my view, she’s best heard in her own, dedicated environment. It’s like a Formula 1 racing car among a cavalcade of traditional horse-drawn wagons. On the other hand, Helena Canovas Parés’ ‘Largo once again’, composed as recently as 2024, fits in quite well, being a modern version -or parody- of the old coach.

The musicians are outstanding. Their passionate period-style playing on ditto instruments, or copies thereof, transports the audience to a bygone era as if they were actually there. This lovely sense of realism is, of course, also due to the sound engineering by the skilled hands and ears of Conzalo Noqué, and DSD mastering by Tom Caulfield, available in several attractive formats, including ‘immersive’.

Altogether a wealth of sound that uplifted my Sunday morning coffee.

Blangy-le-Château, Normandy, France.

Copyright © 2025 Adrian Quanjer and HRAudio.net

Performance:

Sonics (Multichannel):

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