Purcell: Love’s Madness / Dorothee Mields, Wolfgang Katschner, Lautten Compagney Berlin

$20.99
Label
Carus
Release Date
April 24, 2012
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      PURCELL, HENRY
    • PERFORMER
      Mields, Lautten Compagney Berlin, Katschner
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      April 24, 2012
    • UPC
      4009350833715
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      CV83371
    • LABEL
      Carus
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Chamber Music & Recitals
    Works ⌄

    1. Bedlam Boys [17th Century]

      Composer: Anonymous

      Ensemble: Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    2. 'Tis women makes us love

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    3. The Richmond Heiress, or A Woman Once in the Right, Z. 608: Then mad, very mad let us be

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    4. 3 Parts upon a Ground in F Major, Z. 731

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    5. A Fool's Preferment, Z. 571: No. 6. I'll sail upon the Dog-star

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    6. Bonduca, Z. 574, "The British Heroine": No. 10. Jack, thou'rt a toper

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    7. Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626, Act I: The Triumphing Dance

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    8. A Forsaken Lover's Complaint

      Composer: Robert Johnson

      Ensemble: soloist Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

    9. Act V: Masque: Oh, the sweet delights of love!

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    10. Act V: Masque: Dance of Bacchanals

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    11. O solitude, my sweetest choice, Z. 406

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    12. Fantasia a 5 in F, Z. 745, "Upon 1 Note"

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    13. Bonduca, Z. 574, "The British Heroine": No. 13. Sing, sing, ye Druids

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    14. Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626, Act II: Oft she visits this lone mountain

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    15. Full fathom five

      Composer: Robert Johnson

      Ensemble: soloist Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

    16. Distress'd Innocence, Z. 577: VI. Rondeau

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: Lautten Compagney

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    17. Sophonisba, Z. 590: Beneath a poplar's shadow

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: soloist Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

    18. The Beggar's Opera, Act I: Grim King of the Ghosts

      Composer: Johann Christoph Pepusch

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    19. From silent shades, and the Elysian groves, Z. 370, "Bess of Bedlam"

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    20. The Tempest Suite: Curtain tune

      Composer: Matthew Locke

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    21. Tell me, some pitying angel, Z. 196, "The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation"

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: soloist Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

    22. The Cruel Mother [18th Century]

      Composer: Anonymous

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    23. Once, twice, thrice, I Julia tried, Z. 265

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    24. William and Margret [17th Century]

      Composer: Anonymous

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    25. The Willow Song [16th Century]

      Composer: Anonymous

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    26. The Prophetess, Z. 627, "The History of Dioclesian", Act II: Song: Charon the peaceful Shade invites

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    27. There were 3 Ravens

      Composer: Thomas Ravenscroft

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    28. Ground in C Minor, Z. D221

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    29. Ophelia's Mad Song [16th Century]

      Composer: Anonymous

      Ensemble: soloist Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

    30. Act III: When I am laid in earth, "Dido's Lament"

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Performer: Dorothee Mields

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner

    31. Act III: With drooping Wings, ye cupids come

      Composer: Henry Purcell

      Ensemble: members Lautten Compagney

      Conductor: Wolfgang Katschner


You really won’t be disappointed with these stylish, polished, engaging performances.

In the old days—that is, the 1980s and ‘90s—this is a recording that would have been done by the Baltimore Consort, with soprano Custer LaRue; but they would have left out the boring stuff, all those endlessly plodding “grounds”, or the excessively torturous (as opposed to the reasonably tortuous) six-and-one-half-minute Expostulation of the Blessed Virgin, in favor of livelier, more virtuosic, or just more light-hearted or even humorous material.

Mields is certainly a wonderful singer—indeed, this is some of the best work she’s done—and the instrumentalists are first-rate. But I don’t buy the legitimacy of the programmatic device that supposedly unifies the chosen repertoire: a “journey into the extremities of the life of the soul, caused by feelings of love.” The word “mad” pops up frequently in the liner notes, supposedly a theme that links all of the music, by Purcell and a few contemporaries—but you’ll be hard pressed to hear and feel this connection as you listen.

That’s not to say that the program isn’t composed of some fine and well-chosen songs—and Mields has admirable command of the material; yet her final, gorgeously sung Dido’s Lament lacks a true emotional connection with the character’s situation, eliminating that oft-recorded, beloved aria as a reason to own the disc. But there are plenty more reasons among the 31 tracks—and if you’re a fan of this period and place (latter 17th-century England), and of songs such as “Sing, sing Ye Druids” and “The Three Ravens”, you really won’t be disappointed with these stylish, polished, engaging performances.

-- David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com