Boccherini: Fandango, Sinfonie & La Musica Notturna di Madrid Audio CD – Classical, February 14, 2006

Men spend a lifetime searching for God and the secret path to Heaven. Music referred to as Classic may be a good place to start. Boccherini is the lock. Savall's may be the key. There is timeless elegance, virtuoso, in this album; an allegory of life and grace that is absolutely staggering. Surrender to the never heard before rendition of Boccherini's fandango played on baroque instruments. Can you hear the ladies and their prétendants dancing in the streets of Madrid? The Castañedas remind us of birds chirping, while the Minuet allegro is a one way ticket to the International Space Station. Prepare to be wowed, surprised, moved by the outstanding beauty of Grace, Humanity, and Arts. This CD is worth a blunt or a stiff one. It is a band-aid to our wrung out souls. If I could give it 10 stars I would but I can't Amazon is only up to 5.

I heard the Fandango on my local NPR station, KUOW.fm, and sat riveted to my car seat in the parking lot at work to hear the end. Though familiar with this piece, I was entranced, hearing the pure of it magic for the first time. I was not at all disappointed with the recording as a whole. My only reservation is that the disk I received had the sequences of pieces out of order vis-a-vis the notes on the CD case and interior. I'm not sure if this was a change made late in the process of finalizing the disk for sale, or an anomaly in my particular version. Does it indicate anything I should be concerned about? Have other listeners had this oddity with this disk?

I've enjoyed Boccherini's music for a long time now and thought the 1971 recording of the Quintets performed by Narciso Yepes with the Melos Quartet set the standard. To my pleasure and surprise I like this recording even more. I have to say it is one of my favorite performances of any music anytime. The performance is nimble with a very light touch and considerable humor. The things that go into liking one interpretation over another are, of course, intensely personal so your results may vary. Never-the-less, if you are in a bad mood after listening to this CD you might want to look into anti-depressant medication.

Finally after waiting 6 weeks for delivery,I was sitting eyes closed listening to the Fandango thinking it was worth the wait, when my reverie was interrupted by my spaniel Shiraz sitting up woofing at the speakers in response to the castinets. It surely is a performance which commands attention. The CD is a delight from the first note to the last strains of the Retreat.Go buy.

Over the past 30 years I have developed a passionate love affair with Boccherini's compositions. Of all the performances I have collected this is the best I have ever experienced. In addition to showcasing Boccherini's subtle and sublime artistry it showcases the Spanish flavor of one of his most pivotal periods of composition. Although this import is pricey it is a must for everyone who craves a little more picante in their Baroque buffet.

This may be my favorite Jordi Savall recording. The Madrid street songs are especially fantastic. One of these was used as the music at the end of the film Master and Commander (not sure if that was this version however).

it's great! Never feel bored!

Jordy Savall is amazing in his quest to record early music. I have numerous recording of his and this one is in the continuum of his fantastic output. Once again beautiful music beautiful played and recorded.

Like many buyers I suspect that we were attracted to this disc primarily for the"Musica Notturna delle Strade Di Madrid".(This is a great piece of baroque, excellently recorded and played here.)The "Fandango",( castanets and all,) did not appeal, as this genre can be a bit overpowering, but here a tastefully balanced renditionis achieved, which I found most enjoyable.The two "Sinfonia"are obviously entirely different,and not having heard them before, I was surprised at how sophisticated they are, and sound to be from a later (Mozart/Hayden) era.On reading the booklet,however,it appears that Boccherini was heard,and appreciated by Mozart, and if you are a Mozart fan you will no doubt detect Boccherini's influence once you hear these "Sinfonia"In "La Musica Notturna" and the Fandango, Boccherini displays his Spanish/Mediterranean baroque aspect,contrasted to the more German/ Northern influenced "Sinfonia".Unfortunately, we do not usually hear much at all about Boccherini,and lots (quite justifiably,)about Mozart,and Haydn,which seemsrather sad for a composer of Genius, and originality.( Hopefully his time may yet come)The recording quality is excellent, and the versatile musical cast accurately produce the sound and tempo appropriate to the period.

I bought this CD primarily for 'La Musica Notturna Delle Strade di Madrid' first hearing this on a compilation album performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker. Conducted by Karajan who gave the music the full Germanic treatment. This CD, on the other hand, treats the music much more lightly and unhurried. In my opinion it is the best recording of this composition I have so far come across. The product comes with a large booklet though much of this is the same information in other languages. On the negative note, using Exact Audio Copy in secure mode it showed one of the tracks to be only 99.7% quality not good for a SACD disc targeting the audiophile market.

This excellent disc explores the familiar and less familiar sides of Boccherini. There is the familiar 'Fandango' Guitar Quintet and two Symphonies as well as the 'La Musica Notturna Delle Strade di Madrid' which was usd in the film 'Master and Commander'. The Concert des Nations play with style and skill and Jordi Savall is the conductor. The disc is recorded in a church whose ambience is beautifully caught by the engineers who achieve the right degree of warnth and clarity. I have listened in two channel SACD which is a complete revelation and demonstrates the superiority of the format over CD perfectly. (The cd sound on the disc is also very good). I simply don't know why the SACD format is now only available from a few enterprising independent labels.Anyone wishing to explore this somewhat neglected composer should try this disc.

Boccherini is unfortunately remembered mostly for a small, but sweet, minuet, a piece often played whilst children were assembling in the morning at my junior school many decades ago, but not in this compilation.This CD is a superb collection, brilliantly played, of varied works. The 'Sinfonie' is excellent and should be played more often by Classic FM where Boccherini seems to be rather overlooked for it rivals anything by Mozart.The only down side to these Savall recordings is the format of the packaging with a rather thick paper and card booklet taking up the space for a second disc.

Perfect music as used in "Master and Commander, The Far Side of the World" was how I found the CD later using the end titles of the firm with Russell Crow