Friday, June 13, 2008

Sephardic songs in Fez



Edith Saint-Mard

In a delightfully relaxed concert at the Batha Museum this afternoon, La Roza Enflorese from Belgium performed Sephardic music with a selection of songs in Ladino. Edith Saint-Mard, co-founder of the group with flautist Bernard Mouton, has a perfect voice for such music.

Bernard Mouton

Thomas Bacte was superb on the cello and violon gamba, along with Jan Van Outryve on guitar and oud, and Vincent Libert on percussion. The group specialises in using instruments of the Mediterranean as well as Arabic percussive instruments from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The songs were not particularly of a sacred nature as they included songs of love, lullabies and wedding songs, but it was interesting to hear Jewish music of the Andalous area.

Delicate percussion - Vincent Libert

Jan Van Outryve

The second song, Une pastora yo ami, was about a young man who fell in love with a shepherdess, but she thought he was too young for her. When he grew up, he sought her out ... and found her ... but she hadn’t waited for him. Unfortunately if you don’t understand Ladino or read French, you wouldn’t know that as the information sheet is only in French. Isn’t it time to produce concert information in English too?

Thomas Bacte


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