Cheap Biber: Harmonia Artificioso Ariosa /Rare Fruits Council * M Kraemer (Music) (Mara Galassi, The Rare Fruits Council, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Balazs Mate, Alessandro de Marchi, Rolf Lislevand, Pablo Valetti, Manfredo Kraemer, Lorenz Duftschmid) Price

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Customer Reviews of Biber: Harmonia Artificioso Ariosa /Rare Fruits Council * M Kraemer

A Rare Treat From The Rare Fruits
HIF Biber is the baroque composer that I most overtly admire. Here was a gentleman simply bursting with creativity, who invented with his music, who crossed into new territories of sound and technique, who wasn't afraid of pushing the envelope in terms of style and harmony. I can imagine him quite similar to Beethoven in one respect ~ the music remained with him always as a constant companion and a beloved distraction. <
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> Biber's scordatura tunings are far more than a gimmick to test the mettle of the performer and wow the audience, they are his solid attempts at getting beyond, at breaking free, at creating music that uplifts and inspires, while intriguing and challenging the ear. With Biber, you do not expect to hear what comes next in many cases ~ and that's what's such a treat. He keeps you on your toes, and sometimes at the edge of your seat, remaining fresh thru repeated listenings. And repeatedly you shall listen if you are as me. This is timeless music. <
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> The splendid ensemble RFC captures the spirit of Biber's compostions perfectly with their thoughtful, interpretive, intuitive performances. They spice with just enough pizzazz without going overboard, thus avoiding crossing into the dreadful musically-murderous categories of 'cute' or 'frou-frou'. This is Biber done right.

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Awesome!
Biber is an extraordinarily original composer, full of interesting ideas It is pointless to compare him to Telemann: he belongs to a different time and writes in a different style, using shorter forms and more immediate contrast. HAA is virtuoso composition from beginning to end, integrally exploiting the possibilities of the violin like no one else did at the times; and requires superior technical and musical skills from the performers.
RFC is up to the task. Its brilliant style of playing perfectly matches the character of the music, and they are able to make the most out of it. This is one uplifting, enthusiastic, and amazing CD from beginning to end.

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Guilty of the banality when Baroque goes bad.
I must take exception to the 5-star rating previously given. This music suffers from the worst offense of baroque music, facile ornamentation. Too much of it lacks a center, a ground, and so sounds like a long drawn out series of flourishes (a la Telemann at his worst). When I first heard this album on the radio, I thought that my judgement of Biber based on his "Battle Music" was too harsh. I was wrong - I had heard one of the few pieces of any consequence. Almost all of this material is just simply trite. <
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>The performance can't be faulted. RFC plays with enthusiasm and creativity. They just picked mediocre material. <
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>If you are looking for a Danish pre-Bach baroque composer whose name starts with a "B," stick with Buxtehude: his string sonatas are deep, rich, and always revealing something new.