Alpha is very proud to welcome this grande dame of lyric art. A great Mozartian, she also excels in Gluck, Berlioz and Offenbach and has sung with the greatest, from Claudio Abbado to Marc Minkowski or Frans Bru?ggen. Her rich discography features numerous repertoires but, up until now, it included only one recording of mélodies, whereas she is unanimously recognized as one of the world’s most eminent ambassadresses of the French art song. With her accomplice Susan Manoff, a connoisseur of vocal music and a tremendously sensitive pianist, she has assembled this programme devoted to songs she loves, mixing a few wellknown gems and others, quite rare, such as this superb Néère, from Reynaldo Hahn’s Muses latines.

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REVIEW:

Gens, as one might expect, is exceptional in this repertoire. Most of the songs are about erotic anticipation and tristesse, and her dark, slightly smoky tone adds to the sensuality of it all. She sings as much off the text as the line, but nothing is nudged or forced in an overtly interventionist way. ‘A Chloris’ is one of the best there is, and Hahn’s ‘Néère’, which gives the disc its title, leaves you open-mouthed with its beauty.

– Gramophone

Classical Music

A most beguiling release crowning the Britten centenary. Les Illuminations and the Serenade for tenor, horns and strings are two of Britten's most enduringly popular works. Tenor Peter Schrier, heard here at the height of his powers, with Herbert Kegel conducting the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra. Reissue of performances dating from 1967 recordings done in the then DDR (German Democratic Republic). Booklet includes both liner notes and the sung texts.

Alessandro Scarlatti: Alto Cantatas / Martellacci, Sasso / Composer: Alessandro Scarlatti / Conductor: Giorgio Sasso / Orchestra/Ensemble: Insieme Strumentale di Roma / Number of Discs: 1 / Length: 1 Hours 7 Mins. The author of around 800 cantatas, Alessandro Scarlatti was the most prolific composer of this particular chamber genre during the Baroque period. In this engaging release we are introduced to two examples, both 'with instruments' and written for solo contralto, the voice type to which the Sicilian dedicated a mere 10 per cent of his cantata output. Perch� tacete, regolati concenti is the first, a work that corresponds to the typically 17th-century themes of unrequited or unhappy love, with both the character and the music expressing the feeling of grief that underpins the text. The prose is actually quite weak in comparison to the quality of the music, and it may be that Scarlatti wrote it himself: he was, after all, described in the wording of his admission to the Arcadia as a �professor or poetry�. It is in any case an early composition; the second cantata, Filen, mio caro bene, we know was written later, on account of its style as well as Arcadian subject matter (which by then was in vogue: the work is set in a natural context). Complementing these works are a couple of concertos and sonatas by the composer, each set in a minor key. An all-Italian cast are at hand to perform the program, with alto Gabriella Martellacci � who has appeared as a guest performer with such prestigious orchestras as the Royal Concertgebouw and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia � taking the lead in the cantatas. Recorded: October 2012, Basilica dei Santi Bonifacio e Alessio, Rome, Italy. For a long time, Alessandro Scarlatti merely was �the father of� the more celebrated Domenico Scarlatti (the composer of 555 keyboard sonatas), but in recent years his genius as composer of an immense vocal oeuvre is widely recognized. Alessandro wrote some 800 cantatas for solo voice and instrumental ensemble, dramatic works on secular texts, dealing mainly with unrequited love, and the resulting grief and melancholy, exquisitely expressed in beautiful cantabile lines. The two Cantatas on this new recording (which also contains concertos and an instrumental sonata) are sung by the famous Italian alto Gabriella Martellacci, a household name in the Early Music scene, a regular guest with ensembles like Concerto Italiano (Rinaldo Alessandrini) and Modo Antiquo (Federico Maria Sardelli).

A delightful collection of English songs from the 17th century, constructed around the major influence of the four seasons, and showcasing the great enthusiasm for music, particularly amateur music making, that took place during this era.

During the Commonwealth of England (c.1640–1660), music disappeared almost entirely from religious and court occasions. The use of instruments and music in churches was banned, and organs were destroyed by order of the regime – so the public turned to village and tavern musicians, country dances and new musical clubs for music making. Coinciding with the decline of the Elizabethan madrigal, folk music and settings of the famous poets of the day were popular; similarly, keyboard variations on dance tunes and romantic songs for voice and lute were all the rage, and this continued into the years of the Restoration under Charles II. The monarch’s influence can be detected in the French style of some of the later works, featuring oboe and large groups of strings.

This outpouring of inspired music is captured perfectly in this new collection, performed with insight and sensitivity by Ensemble Le Tendre Amour. Composers featured include Purcell, Playford, Morley, Croft, Lawes, Byrd, Eccles, Ravenscroft and, of course, many anonymous works. From bucolic country music to sophisticated pieces for a gentrified city audience, the music provides a vivid soundtrack to life in the turbulent world of 17th century England.

OTHER INFORMATION:
• Recording made in June 2011.
• Includes extensive booklet notes and complete sung texts.

REVIEWS:

"What an enchanting promenade through a musical garden – full of colour – a splendid sound - lively and high-spirited dances, not to mention the tender rendition of gentle love songs. Also truly splendid were the seven soloists of the ensemble, especially heard were: Sébastien Perrin (traverso), Adriana Alcaide (violin), and Nina Akerblom Nielsen (soprano). The result: an enchanting excursion to a baroque garden, glorious!" - Niederösterreichisches Nachrichten, St. Pölten, Austria.

"Closing the 10th Samobor music festival this year was a performance by early music ensemble Le Tendre Amour from Barcelona with the program “All in a Garden Green,” which caused great audience approval in the Samobor Franciscan church. Various combinations of instrumentation, a creative selection of repertoire, refined performance, and passionately dedicated members of this specialized ensemble, opened a rich array of emotional and spiritual nuances of beautiful music to the listener. The ensemble was as rich and inexhaustible as the interesting artistic periods themselves." - Radio Samobor, Croatia.

A song recital which commemorates World War One brings to mind works by the poets and composers who fought valiantly for their country. Their music and words, often full of joy and desire, are made more profound and poignant by their personal sacrifices and experiences. But the affliction of the War was not restricted to the battlefields. As well as those who fought, there were those interned, those who stayed to defend their home, and those who were forced from their homes by the advancing armies. There were those who worked in munitions factories, and those who cared for the wounded.

This recital draws its inspiration from those lives upturned by the Great War, whether friend or foe, soldier or civilian. Some survived the conflict to produce great catalogues of works. Others never made it home, penning their final songs in the mud of the trenches.

As many of the featured composers fell in battle, I restricted my choice of songs to those composed in the years shortly before, and of, the war itself. With only a few exceptions, the featured poets too were involved in conflict. Alongside established works, this recital programme introduces some little known songs to portray the humanity of those caught up in the torrent of The Great War.

Classical Music

One of Ireland's most compelling gifts to the world is its music. Deliberately, inadvertently, unquenchably, the music, like the people, traveled. They went to America as eager immigrants, such as the Irish Quakers who settled in Pennsylvania, and as unwilling prisoners, like the many Irish Tories remanded to Virginia in the late 17th century. The music they brought with them famously infused America's nascent musical voice as the young country climbed on its shaky legs and learned to dance. No household, it seemed, was without a copy of "Moore's Irish Melodies," although scores of other Irish collections became nearly as popular.

Not just America:
That influence spread throughout the English-speaking world, mixing into the music of such diverse areas as Cape Breton and the Orkney Islands. And, not surprisingly, what with all the conquest-happy traffic in and around Ireland over the centuries, the music has spread even further.
- Byron A. Nilsson

Classical Music

Includes paradetas by various composers. Ensemble: Chatham Baroque. Soloist: Becky Baxter.

Includes traditional reel(s). Ensemble: Kirkmount. Soloist: Alex Bagney.
Includes traditional strathspey(s). Ensemble: Kirkmount. Soloist: Alex Bagney.

Gabriela Ortiz: Denibée

Classical Music

As the internationally-renowned pianist Stephen Hough writes in his liner notes to this composer portrait, he began composing at the age of six, around the time he began to play the piano. Until the age of twenty he continued to write music, but then, ‘owing to a combination of diminishing time and fading compositional self-confidence’, stopped almost entirely. Hough describes the closing work on this disc, The Loneliest Wilderness from 2005, as his ‘first serious piece in two decades’, but this has been followed by a steady stream of works, including two Masses. The focus of the present programme, compiled to celebrate the composer's 50th birthday, is on chamber music – with Hough himself appearing in three of the works: the piano sonata broken branches, his settings of five autumnal poems by Rilke sung by the baritone Jacques Imbrailo, and the trio Was mit den Tränen geschieht. The latter work was composed for Michael Hasel and Marion Reinhard of the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet, an ensemble with which Hough has collaborated on several occasions, and features the piccolo and the contrabassoon, a striking combination described by the composer as possessing ‘great poignancy: the alienation of two instruments unable to meet on the same pitch.’ The elegiac The Loneliest Wilderness is based on a previous song setting by Hough of a poem by Herbert Read, and again the work was written for a close collaborator of the composer, namely Steven Isserlis who performs it here together with the Tapiola Sinfonietta conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy.

"There’s something awe-inspiring about the sheer multifariousness of Stephen Hough’s achievements." - The Daily Telegraph

Classical Music

Classical Music

Combining music, motion, story and social cohesion at the same time, the ‘rondes’ or the ‘chaînes dansées’ (type of dances) belong to all ages. Depending on the circumstances, they were sung by the dancers themselves or accompanied with instruments.

At the turn of the 17th century, the ‘airs de cour’ repertoire was strongly based on those rhythms and popular melodic lines.

'Et la fleur vole' is the result of a subtle choice of airs, airs de cour and dances. Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien are distinguished in this unique repertoire.

An impressive display of heartfelt grief.

When Princess Diana died in 1997 foreign observers were astonished at the public expression of grief. They hadn't expected that from the British, with their famous stiff upper lip. It was considered a sign of the times that people were not ashamed to show their emotions. But apparently there was a precedent in history. In 1612 Prince Henry, the eldest son of King James I, died at the age of just 18. "Certainly the flood of written memorials - epistolary, poetic and musical - which followed his unexpected death and which outnumbered those penned for Queen Elizabeth nine years previously, and the vast crowd of mourners which attended the prince's body on its final journey to Westminster Abbey, attest to the hope which the people had invested in this young man", Gabriel Crouch writes in his liner-notes.

This disc presents a selection of pieces which for the occasion. It is a small selection, since more than 100 poems and more than 40 compositions were written in connection with Henry's death. In addition to pieces which are specifically related to Prince Henry, as his name appears in the dedication or in the text itself, a number are sung which could be linked to this event. Most prominent among these are compositions on the text of the lament of King David for his son Absalom. Gabriel Crouch acknowledges that "the evidence linking it to Henry's death, though compelling, is only circumstantial".

The analogy is inspired by the fact that there was clear disharmony between James and Henry, and there were even rumours about Henry being poisoned by agents working for his father. The identification of Henry and Absalom is not very plausible, though. According to the Bible Absalom was a rebel who plotted against David, the Lord's Anointed, and also his character isn't pictured very favourably. It is very unlikely that the composers whose pieces are an expression of admiration for Prince Henry would compare him to Absalom. The identification of James and David - because of the above-mentioned rumours - isn't plausible either: David specifically ordered his army not to kill Absalom, and it was his general Joab who ignored his order.

The programme also contains pieces on the text of David's lament for his friend Jonathan. There were rumours that James preferred the company of young men over his wife, and Crouch mentions that "some commentators (...) assert that the two young men [David and Jonathan] were lovers", "so perhaps the use of this story of loss and grief from earlier in David's life could be seen as another opportunistic barb to throw at the unpopular king". But to which commentators Crouch does refer? Modern writers have expressed this view, but I am pretty sure this interpretation was absent in the early 17th century. Moreover, where is Henry in this explanation? Wasn't this music written in honour of him? Why would pieces expressing grief about his death be used to throw barbs at his father?

There is really no reason to look for explanations like that. These texts have been frequently used by composers in the renaissance and baroque to express grief. The simple reason is that they are highly expressive and moving, and that in those times everyone knew these texts by heart and also their biblical context. That made them very appropriate to express the grief at Prince Henry's death.

That justifies the inclusion of the various settings of David's lament over Absalom by Robert Ramsey, Thomas Weelkes, Richard Dering and Thomas Tomkins, whether they were specifically written at the occasion of Henry's death or not. All of them are strongly expressive. Whereas Weelkes and Tomkins belong to the standard repertoire of English polyphony, Robert Ramsey is far less known. He was organist and master of the choristers at Trinity College in Cambridge from 1615 until his death in 1644. In his compositions as well as in some others on this disc the influence of the Italian style of the early 17th century is noticeable. And that is reflected in the performance, which includes dynamic gradation, for instance at the words "and wept" and at "o my son" (When David heard). The pieces by Dering are also not that well-known, and in particular his motet, Contristatus est David, the only piece on a Latin text in the programme. The word "flevit" (wept) is set to strong dissonances.

Robert Ramsey also composed a piece on the text of the lament of David over Jonathan, How are the Mighty Fall'n. He and Thomas Weelkes, in O Jonathan, Woe is me, concentrate on David's lament, whereas Thomas Tomkins' Then David Mourned contains just one line from the Biblical text: "Then David mourned with this lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son".

The other pieces were specifically written on the occasion of Prince Henry's death. John Coprario even devoted a cycle of seven Songs of Mourning to this event. Every stanza is dedicated to those who grieved over Henry's death. Four of them are performed: O Grief, "to the most sacred King James", So Parted You, "to the most princely and virtuous Elizabeth" (sister of Henry), When Pale Famine, "to the most disconsolate Great Britain", and O Poor distracted World, "to the World". They are for solo voice and lute, and they are sung with great sensitivity by four members of Gallicantus: Amy Moore, Mark Chambers, Matthew Long and Gabriel Crouch respectively. There are other pieces for solo voices: Robert Ramsey's What tears, dear Prince? is sung by Christopher Watson, Melpomene, Bewail by Clare Wilkinson and Mark Chambers. This piece ends with the words: "Farewell, the Muses' King". The word "farewell" is repeated a number of times, and the closing of this madrigal is highly expressive.

The other works are all polyphonic. The items by Thomas Ford, William Cranford and John Ward belong together. The former two are incomplete, and could only be recorded thanks to reconstructions by Francis Steele. One has to be grateful for that, because these two pieces - as well as Ward's - are very moving tributes to Henry. Cranford's Weep, weep Britons contains the line: "He whose triumphing name was loudly echoed by the trump of fame". It is set in a very evocative way, with fanfare motifs and repetitions suggesting an echo. Italian influences are traceable here as well. The last piece to be mentioned is again by Robert Ramsey, Sleep Fleshly Birth, which confirms the quality of his music. I would definitely like to hear more from him.

Gallicantus's first disc was devoted to music by Robert White, which greatly impressed me. This disc is of the same high standard. Gallicantus produces a beautiful sound, clear and well-balanced. They sing here with great sensitivity, and the expression of this mournful repertoire is fully explored. The Italian influences are also clearly notable. I have already indicated that the lute songs are beautifully sung. The singers are sparing in the addition of ornaments, and considering the character of the songs that is definitely right.

This disc is an impressive display of heartfelt grief. My advice: purchase this disc, let the music move you, and take the liner-notes with a grain of salt. The booklet includes the complete lyrics. The track-list doesn't give the dates of birth and death of the composers, which is a serious omission.

-- Johan van Veen, MusicWeb International

Birtwistle - softer-grained, relatively lyrical and the angular rigorous.

Now that Lyrita appear to have reissued the majority of their own archive, it’s gratifying to see that they are turning their attention to some old Decca/British Council releases from the 1960s and 1970s that would otherwise be languishing in the vaults. The Decca Headline series contained some classic performances of then avant-garde works by contemporary composers; it featured works by international figures such as Messiaen, Lutoslawski and Henze in addition to home-grown talent such as Birtwistle, Bedford and Musgrave. The present CD is a straight reissue of HEAD 7 and contains three key works by Birtwistle from the late 1960s/early 1970s. It offers a useful snapshot of the composer’s style as he moved from the harsh expressionism of his early works (typified by the opera Punch and Judy) to his increasing fascination with the Orpheus legend, itself reflected in a softer-grained, relatively lyrical approach. On this CD The Fields of Sorrow and Nenia represent, broadly speaking, the latter approach; Verses for Ensembles contains elements of the more angular, rigorous Birtwistle.

Jane Manning joins the London Sinfonietta and Chorus for The Fields of Sorrow; word setting is unconventional, being divided across the forces, often syllabically. The performers are also distributed across the sound-stage, creating together with the bell-like sonorities a ghostly, disembodied effect. This effectively reflects the mediaeval poem which Birtwistle sets, depicting the journey of two souls through a gloomy forest in Hades.

By contrast with Verses for Ensembles we have what marks perhaps a culmination of his early, expressionist years. Hieratic brass and woodwind writing, contrasted with ebullient percussion, throw us immediately into a very different sound-world. The work encapsulates many characteristics of Birtwistle’s "early" period; his use of verse and refrain forms as a structural device, his fascination with procession or ritual, and a deployment of contrasting instrumental resources as a way of articulating the structure for the listener. The instrumentation is set into sharp relief by the composer’s spatial distribution of his forces on stage. Thus two woodwind groups sit to the left and right of the stage, with brass and percussion towards the rear. Birtwistle also requires players to move physically to key positions on stage at significant moments in the piece. The sounds themselves contrast harsh, aggressive brass and woodwind writing with softer passages. Verses for Ensembles is by no means an easy work to assimilate, but as ever with Birtwistle the music repays repeated study. The performance, by the forces for which it was written, is everything we could wish for. Perhaps one or two extra tracking points on the CD might have helped those unfamiliar with the music to find their bearings more clearly.

The final work on the CD, Nenia – The Death of Orpheus, was composed the year after Verses. The title refers to a Roman funeral dirge and the goddess invoked; Orpheus and Euridice are the subjects of the ritual. Birtwistle now groups his instrumental forces according to timbres, rather than the contrasting sounds he created in Verses. The instrumental music is dominated by the sound of bass clarinets. The structure of the piece, the instrumental forces, and the vocal style Birtwistle requires of his soloist - Jane Manning again - are immensely fluid, and immensely challenging, but at all times dictated by the text. Once again the performances are astonishing in their virtuosity.

As the composer in his early years moved from one set of preoccupations to another, reflected by a development in his actual compositional style, it’s misleading to suppose that each compositional phase is entirely self-contained, without reference to what came before or after. Birtwistle himself felt that each of his pieces consisted of "layers" reflecting both previous interests and pointing the way forward to future developments. On first hearing the extreme dissonance of Verses for Ensembles may appear to contrast sharply with the softer-grained approach of The Fields of Sorrow; but the composer’s spatial distribution of his forces in both works provides a stylistic link. Nenia, as we have seen, contains the preoccupations with ritual that characterised many of his earlier works. What comes across very clearly - and here I echo a word Paul Conway uses in his excellent booklet notes - is the composer’s stylistic integrity right across his output.

-- Ewan McCormick, MusicWeb International

Sono Luminus has come together again with the amazing talent of the Ying Quartet and is excited to release American Anthem: The Music of Samuel Barber & Howard Hanson. Bringing together musical selections that are truly expressive of the American spirit, this album also includes a selection from American composer Randall Thompson, and features pianist Adam Neiman and baritone Randall Scarlata.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

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More Sampson and delight: first-class Purcell like this is much too rare

-- Gramophone [12/2007]

A fine flowing line, great virtuoso technique yet also expressive feeling.

Purcell’s song output is extensive. Zimmerman, in his analytical catalogue of his music, the Z numbers in the heading, identifies five categories. All are represented in the nineteen songs of this anthology from Carolyn Sampson.

The fullest coverage is of the seven songs from Purcell’s semi-operas, four from The Fairy Queen. ‘Now the night is chas’d away’ (tr. 9), the first song in Act 4, is given pacy, gleeful treatment by Sampson and, while there’s no chorus on hand to supply the choral repeats, the concluding instrumental ritornello has matching verve. The first song in Act 5, ‘Thrice happy lovers’ (tr. 11), Juno’s blessing, is delivered smilingly yet with enough virtuoso display to impress, the aria section, “Be to one another true” (1:40) quieter as befits its more serious manner yet still with pleasingly varied, regal application of ornamentation in repeated phrases. Sampson’s style throughout has absolute assurance. The first song in Act 3 (tr. 17), is of a more philosophic nature, with an instrumental version as prelude so you can admire its courtly progress, climax and gentle falling away. The music and performance perfectly mirrors the bittersweet ambivalence of the text exemplified in the opening line, ‘If love’s a sweet passion, why does it torment?’. Lastly ‘O let me weep’, the Plaint (tr. 4), a self-contained little scena added to Act 5 in the 1693 revival where the mourning for the departed lover and isolation of the singer is echoed by obbligato solo violin. Sampson and violinist Sarah Sexton maintain a delicate balance between stark plainness, as in the violin’s first echo of the singer’s “sighs” and the naturally florid embellishment of the melodic line, in particular at cadences. So after a display of this kind by the violin from 4:21 the quiet voice entry is more affecting and the sotto voce pathos of the closing section, “He’s gone”, punctuated from 6:30 by one note violin sighs, are the more effective. Emma Kirkby’s 1982 recording in her Purcell song anthology (L’Oiseau-Lyre 475 9109), timing at 6:32 in comparison with Sampson’s 7:23, is more urgent and plangent against which the steady ground bass makes for tension through contrast. Sampson presents a more savoured, Italianate outpouring of grief.

There are three other semi-opera items. From Act 3 of The Indian Queen ‘I attempt from love’s sickness to fly in vain’ (tr. 13) is treated by Sampson as a light, soubrettish sort of song, comely enough, with a fluent, airy delivery, graceful ornamentation and an effective pause at the beginning of the final refrain, enjoying mulling over the experience. However, the animation of ‘They tell us that you might powers above’ (tr. 5) from Act 4 is, I feel, overdone for this more serious song whose second strain seems thrust forward so that its closing semiquaver clusters, however delicately delivered by Sampson, seem breathless. The instrumental version which follows, timing at 1:15 against the comparable opening verse’s 1:04, has more suitable breadth. Nancy Argenta’s opening verse in 1995 in her Purcell song anthology (Virgin 5 61866 2) is 6 seconds slower than Sampson’s, which gives it a somewhat more intent nature. Sampson’s last semi-opera item, from Act 5 of King Arthur, is ‘Fairest isle’ (tr. 15), Venus’ song with a nicely graced instrumental prelude that sets the tone for the luxuriant smooth, flowing, serene singing with intimate continuo and more elaborate ornamentation for the second verse tempered by quieter delivery. I find the effect beautifully jewel-like though some might feel it excessive.

Another Zimmerman category is songs in incidental music for the theatre of which there are three on this SACD. The disc takes its title from the upbeat concluding section (tr. 1 2:30) of ‘Sweeter than roses’, exuberantly delivered after the soft opulence of the vocal opening enhanced by sultry theorbo and expressive bass viol, all finely controlled with vivid “trembling” and focus on the keyword “kiss”. ‘Music for a while’ (tr. 8) also begins softly, the tone here notably clean, opening out at “wond’ring” and with sensitively added ornamentation for the repetitions of “eas’d” so that very addition seems part of the relaxation expressed. ‘Man is for the woman made’ (tr. 6) is performed by Sampson as a party piece, including a tipsy rising glissando on “liquor” and an outrageous but terrific virtuoso roulade on “serenade”.

Of the category songs in odes comes just ‘The bashful Thames’ (tr. 12) from the Yorkshire Feast Song. Two violins take the original obbligato accompaniment for two recorders here which makes for a more refined backing to which Sampson provides a stylish front, making the contrast tell between the cowed descents of “drooping” and confident ascents of “tow’ring”.

Sampson sings six of Purcell’s secular solo songs. The second, more elaborate setting of ‘If music be the food of love’ (tr. 10) is one of contemplative virtuosity, taking in thrumming demisemiquavers to illustrate “joy”. ‘O solitude’ (tr. 16) is plainer but kept flowing and intense because of its remorseless ground bass. Sampson’s soft close is movingly evocative of the title and subject of the song’s veneration. But Argenta’s 1992 recording here is calmer, with a little more space, timing at 5:26 against Sampson’s 5:18, with just archlute accompaniment more inward and contemplative, a quieter, plainer delivery, the wide vocal range from middle C to high G effective enough without further emphasis. Sampson’s account has bass viol too, making the ground bass more prominent while Sampson makes the text more dramatic, partly through more ornamentation which shows both more imagination and artifice. ‘From silent shades’ (tr. 7) is the mad song of Bess of Bedlam with contrasting tempi mirroring mood swings, slowing at the vision of the dead loved one, then from Sampson a display of warbling elegy with an electrifying octave glissando rising at “forth”, but in the main coming across as a crafted, almost documentary study of a sad state. She isn’t as wonderfully direct or has such touchingly naïve brightness of tone and simplicity of presentation as Emma Kirkby who is pacier, 3:43 against Sampson’s 4:31, lighter yet more dramatic. Sampson offers us a more lingering experience with fine shaping of line and more contrasted sections. ‘The fatal hour’ (tr. 2) begins in elaborate declamation but after Sampson’s poised and tender “Sure when you go, my heart will break” is transformed into a more flowing love song. ‘Oh! fair Cedaria’ (tr. 14) is supremely crafted and sung as it moves from an opening section of swooning admiration, through a central happy contemplation of the loved one’s beauty and charms to a closing “pity me” appeal. Based on a jig, ‘When first Amintas sued for a kiss’ (tr. 3) is a jolly, racy piece allowing singer and harpsichord to let their hair down with tempi artfully varied to point the story. Sampson is more forthright and dramatic, with denser and busier accompaniment than Emma Kirkby’s lute alone. Kirkby is quieter but with a very knowing manner and subtler variation of pace.

Finally Sampson gives us two of Purcell’s sacred songs. ‘Tell me, some pitying angel’, the Blessed Virgin’s expostulation (tr. 18) is a scena tracing Mary’s emotions when the 12-year-old Jesus goes missing. Sampson’s opening well conveys the initial flood of anxiety soon tempered by a more contemplative hoping he is safe. Then there’s a more intimate manner of tender care questioning why he disappeared. But I felt Sampson’s repeated calls to Gabriel a touch too swift for full dramatic and anguished impact. Sampson makes the second section, “Me Judah’s daughters once caress’d” a happy recollection and the contrast at the close of trusting the God but fearing for the child is finely poised. Nancy Argenta’s 1992 recording isn’t as varied and tender early on as Sampson’s but does give the calls to Gabriel more urgency and space, more contrast to the third section, “Now fatal change” and a more vivid questioning perplexity to the fourth, “How shall my soul its motions guide”. Lastly from Sampson, an Evening Hymn, ‘Now that the sun hath veil’d his light’ (tr. 19), with just theorbo accompaniment, is presented as an intimate nocturne, the voice softly complementing, smooth yet flowing, the presentation much plainer than hitherto with not a trill in sight, a refreshing close which shows Sampson and her accomplices still have the capacity to surprise.

To sum up, this is a well varied selection, as stylishly sung as those by Argenta and Kirkby. The inclusion of the ‘authentic’ instrumental versions of some songs is a welcome bonus. The SACD recording brings both intimacy and spaciousness, placing you in vivid proximity to the singer and players. Moreover, in a fascinating booklet note Elizabeth Kenny refers to an intention to make the disc different with flexibility in interpretation and use of instruments reflecting the way Purcell’s music was transmitted in the half century after his death rather than seeking a more chaste, urtext manner. As I’ve noted above, where Sampson is at her most daring she’s most striking. Not everything comes off: in ‘They tell us that you mighty powers’ and the Blessed Virgin’s expostulation I feel the momentum sometimes impairs the emotive impact. But mostly there’s a fine flowing line, great virtuoso technique yet also expressive feeling fully revealing Purcell is one of the greatest English song writers.

-- Michael Greenhalgh, MusicWeb International

Classical Music

Classical Music

Recorded live at The Sixteen's Handel in Oxford Festival, 2006, Elin Manahan Thomas gives a performance of captivating communication and sparkling intelligence in these stunning and contrasting Handel Cantatas, bringing to life the world of four women, all of whom have been betrayed by love and its deceitful charms.

Click here to view all available releases in the Milken Archive Series at ArkivMusic.

Vocal Recital: Kuhse, Hannelore - WAGNER, R. / STRAUSS, R. /