Category: Recording

The rise of English polyphony 1270-1430
The Orlando Consort
72:13
CDA 68132
Alanus, Byttering, Chirbury, Damett, Dunstaple, Excetre, Gervays, Power & anon

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]etting aside my objection to the ‘Northern Star’ reference – there was ground-breaking polyphony of superlative quality being composed at this time further north in the British Isles – this CD is a useful look at the roots of English polyphony. It throws a new spotlight on some unfamiliar and mainly anonymous English music from the period immediately prior to the Old Hall Manuscript, although the notes are vexingly vague about the sources of this earliest repertoire.

I have often had reservations about the sound the Orlando Consort produces, and here too particularly with the earliest repertoire there is an annoying degree of vibrato in the inner voices, while the music seems to be divided between ‘sweet’ music, which receives gentle performances, and ‘lively’ music, which is given altogether rougher treatment. There are entire pieces here where the blend is never truly established, and I find it hard to tolerate this, let alone begin to enjoy it. Having said that, there is a general clarity of articulation and a pleasing parity of balance in more animated sections. With the slightly later repertoire from Old Hall onwards, the situation is generally happier, and the expected music of Power and Dunstaple is complemented with less familiar repertoire by Byttering, Gervays, Damett and Alanus. This is an informative survey of the roots of English polyphony, but to judge it at the highest level, I do have reservations about some of the performances. I know that the Orlando Consort has a dedicated and enthusiastic following, and their fans will not hesitate to invest in this CD, and a fair proportion of the works here are simply not available elsewhere.

D. James Ross

La Tempête, Simon-Pierre Bestion
82:29
Alpha Classics Alpha 261
Machaut: Messe de Notre-Dame, Alfonso X El Sabio: Cantigas de Santa Maria
+ Stravinsky: Messe, Ohana: Cantigas

[dropcap]I[/dropcap] have to admit that my heart sank when I looked at the paperwork with this CD and read that the word Azahar is the Spanish word for orange blossom, that the programme was a mash-up of Machaut, Alfonso X el Sabio, Stravinsky and Maurice Ohana, and that the programme note was in the form of an interview in which director Simon–Pierre Bestion declared of Machaut’s Messe de Notre Dame, ‘You can take extraordinary liberties with this Mass – it’s so modern after all.’ Well no it’s not – it’s from the 14th century. His further assertion that his approach is ‘neo-classical rather than historical’ and that he likes ‘disorientating the listener’ further depressed me. Time to put on the CD, and in fact things are not as entirely demented as promised by the notes. The gritty, choral post-Pérès account of the Machaut Messe de Notre Dame  with some kind of unspecified growling bass instrument (possibly a ‘basson ancien’), and tutti passages supported by early brass and drums is mostly effective, if a little implausible. The same epic treatment of Alfonso’s Cantigas de Santa Maria  is equally effective and implausible, and it is ironic that the music treated with the most respect is the most recent, the Messe  by Igor Stravinsky and the rather iconoclastic settings of the Cantigas  by Maurice Ohana. Putting to one side these last two elements of the recording, which are probably the most successful aspects though of less interest to EMR readers, your reaction to the presentation of the early music here depends on what you are looking for from ‘authentic’ performers. I have to admit that a director whose self-declared approach is ‘neo-classical rather than historical’ is unlikely to satisfy my requirements, and the allure of epic, pumped-up Machaut, impressive as it occasionally may sound, really ought to be resisted as ‘fake news’. Stepping back from the concoction Bestion is offering here under the Azahar banner, we essentially have two CDs mashed together: a good performance of some relatively good Stravinsky and some generally less good Ohana, and a whole other CD of early music, generally well performed but on steroids and therefore historically implausible. If that’s your kind of thing, go for it, but don’t expect a dinner invitation from me any time soon…

D. James Ross