Tag: Vocal music

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Unsung Heroine | Vision

CD cover Unsung Heroine Vision Beatriz de Dia Hildegard of Bingen the telling

The Imagined Life and Love of Beatriz de Dia
The Imagined Testimony of Hildegard of Bingen
The Telling
74:37
First Hand Records FHR123

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The genesis of this CD is by no means simple, so it is important to give an outline of it here. In May 2021, one of the two singers of the ensemble The Telling, Ariane Prüssner, died prematurely and unexpectedly. The Telling had specialised in touring dramatisations of narratives compiled from early musical sources, and their latest two projects had been Unsung Heroine and Vision (detailed above). The soundtracks to arthouse films, these performances were recorded mainly in single takes and never intended for release in CD form. The music on the CD is extracted from larger works and verses are omitted, and where Hildegard left more than enough music to speak entirely with her own voice, Beatriz left only five songs, and her ‘life’ is eked out here with music by various other more familiar male troubadours. Fine musicians all, The Telling provide dynamic and convincing performances of this music which need no apology, and – notwithstanding the unusual and sad circumstances surrounding it – this is a very worthwhile project and a suitable testimony to the remarkable individual talents of Ariane Prüssner, but also to the combined dynamic of this distinctive ensemble. These two imaginative and dramatically effective sequences of vocal and instrumental music shed a valuable light on two musically gifted women, one very familiar and one still relatively unknown.

D. James Ross

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Ou beau chastel

CD cover of Leuven Chansonniervol. 2 Ou beau chastel

Leuven Chansonnier vol. 2
Sollazzo Ensemble
53:50
passacaille AMY059 | PAS 1109

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The Sollazzo Ensemble return to the Leuven Chansonnier for a second selection from the 62 works it records. Alongside the established composers (Ockeghem, Caron, Frye, Morton, and Busnoys), there is anonymous music which has not been found in any other source, and which supplies the title for their CD. The Ensemble provides convincing and musically engaging accounts of this important music, although just occasionally I felt that some of the songs were a little over-interpreted, with some unidiomatic vocal swooping and portamenti. This is living music, and performers who are undeniably very familiar with the repertoire must be permitted to interpret it meaningfully, but I felt that some of the mannerisms in the vocal contribution sounded disconcertingly out of period. That aside, these are bold and effective interpretations, and it is good to report that the ‘new’ anonymous material is every bit as fine as the established, ‘named’ music – but for the whim of the copyist, we might be adding to the output of one of the familiar masters here, or perhaps more intriguingly even adding to the panoply of the masters of the period. I found it particularly exciting to hear a very persuasive account of Walter Frye’s ubiquitous three-part setting of Ave Regina performed by voices and wind instruments – the performances in the 1980s (by, amongst others, René Clemencic) of the music of this period combining wind instruments and voices were often dismissed as eccentric at the time, but with the welcome challenging of the ‘a cappella orthodoxy’ may prove to have been a perfectly viable and plausible performance option. 

D. James Ross

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Mirabilia Musica

CD cover of Mirabilia Musica

Echoes from late medieval Cracow
La Morra
61:05
Ramée RAM 2008

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In a fascinating programme note, La Morra’s director Michal Gondko draws attention to an account of around 1470 by Filippo Buonaccorsi (aka Callimachus) of music in Cracow, at that time the capital of Poland, as well as the two seminal manuscripts from which the music on this CD is extracted. The major discovery is the composer Mikołaj Radomski (fl c1425), who contributes an impressive polyphonic Gloria and a Magnificat, and who may also be ‘Nicolaus’, the composer of keyboard pieces and whose Nitor inclite is performed here. Also impressive is music by Petrus Wilhelmi de Grudenz, given a stunning performance, as well a strikingly original Gloria by Antonio Zacara da Teramo. The singing and playing of La Morra is of a very high order throughout, and they give very persuasive performances of this unusual repertoire. It can scarcely come as a surprise that an important kingdom such as Poland would at this time have boasted a thriving musical culture, but it is exciting to have this confirmed in these excellent performances of superb music from the period, which was either composed in Cracow or certainly performed in it. 

D. James Ross

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La leggenda di Vittore e Corona nei codici del mediovo

CD cover La leggenda di Vittore e Corona InUnum ensemble

InUnum ensemble
53:04
Tactus TC 220002

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The magnificent Renaissance and Baroque music associated with St Mark’s Basilica in Venice can overshadow its earlier repertoire, and this liturgical music from the 13th century, associated with the legend of the martyrs Victor and Corona is a revelation. The template for Christian martyrs from Roman times who were made the subject of Medieval cults consists of them expressing their beliefs in ways incompatible with the pagan Roman Empire and then undergoing unspeakable tortures before their faith is vindicated. This is the case with Victor and Corona, although they are unusual in suffering in parallel with one another – twice the bravery and twice the suffering. The versatile InUnum Ensemble mainly sing unaccompanied – monody with drones and simple polyphony – as well as playing a variety of instruments. The singing is absolutely beautiful, expressive and clear as a bell, with perfect intonation. The instruments – percussion, harp, organistrum, organ, vielle and recorders – are judiciously and cleverly employed to enhance the power of the textual narrative, and I found myself drawn into these extended legends. Understandably, the extensive texts are not printed in the programme booklet, but are available online – having recently been at work on the equally gory cult of St Katherine (she of the wheel), I preferred to draw a veil over the more gruesome details of what poor Victor and Corona were subjected to. Inevitably in a CD of this sort of repertoire, we are ultimately reliant on the skills and musicality of the singers, and I was utterly beguiled by the singing of the InUnum Ensemble, as well as being thoroughly persuaded by the manner of presentation of the repertoire and the discerning use of instruments. In a telling footnote emphasising the vulnerability of such early repertoire, the manuscript was stolen from St Mark’s around twenty years ago – fortunately, it had by that time been scanned. My mind turned to the wealth of repertoire from this period which has not yet been scanned, nor even catalogued.

D. James Ross

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Giosquino

CD cover of Giosquino Josquin Desprez in Italia Odhecaton

Josquin Desprez in Italia
Odhecaton, Paolo Da Col, The Gesualdo Six, [La Reverdie, La Pifarescha]
77:17
Arcana A489

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Coinciding as it does with the reopening of the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, with its magnificent Renaissance tapestry featuring Hercules, dux Ferrara, one would like to think this similarly magnificent recording featuring Josquin’s Mass Hercules dux Ferrariae might have found its way into the gift shop. If you like your Josquin big and muscular, this is the recording for you. Looking at things through musicological glasses, we know that the ducal court of Ferrara possessed the musical resources to stage events of this stature, so the only consideration is whether Josquin’s music is effective, performed by these large forces. I think that the approach here, using as many as twenty voices for full sections, with solo voices emerging to perform the more intricate passages works extremely well. The otherwise detailed programme notes are inexplicably uninformative about the role played by the wind instruments – I am sure that the voices are supported by cornets and sackbuts in several tracks, and one photo of the recording sessions would seem to confirm this. If this is indeed the case, the blend of voices and brass is exemplary, and again highly effective. I have to say, I felt the two short instrumental tracks sound a little out of place in this programme of largescale sacred music. The programme ends with Josquin’s extraordinary 12-part setting of Inviolata, integra et casta in which all the vocal and instrumental forces combine in a dramatic performance tour de force. I have recently suggested that this work dates from later in Josquin’s life, and through his pupils kicked off the early 16th-century vogue for works in many voice parts (Brumel, Gombert, Carver – www.earlymusicreview.com/robert-carver-exploring-his-aberdeen-connections) – Camilla Cavicci’s programme note points to the interest in the cult of Franciscan immaculatism at the court of Ferrara as a possible alternative context for the work. Either way, it makes for a dramatic conclusion to this fine CD, and provides more persuasive evidence for the more flamboyant and lavishly scored performance of works from the 15th and 16th centuries.

D. James Ross

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Handel: Messiah

Floral design

Eboracum Baroque, Chris Parsons
132:08 (2 CDs in a card triptych)
1 98000 82190 6

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Whenever I am presented with a new version of a frequently-recorded work such as Messiah, my first question has to be what does this performance add to the body of existing recordings? After I have expressed my admiration for this project, conducted under the most difficult pandemic conditions and representative of the sort of ‘can-do’ attitude which has seen us through the worst of Covid restrictions, I have to report that this recording doesn’t really add much at all. Although its virtues are several, the problems with it are – I fear – predominant. It is a reduced-forces performance (the oboes are dropped and everything else is one-to-a-part), by its own admission unlike any performance from Handel’s time, providing us with what the performers hope will be ‘an exciting take on Handel’s masterpiece’. While the singing of a line-up of young soloists, who double as chorus, is generally perfectly presentable and the instrumental playing is effectively detailed, the latter is underpowered and the former is undistinguished – and neither of these features is adequate in a field of superb performances. While audiences would have been forgiving of the occasional blurring due to social distancing in a live performance, this is harder to condone or live with in a recording. Problems are compounded with the ‘popping’ of a mic in several of the choral tracks. I wanted to be more positive about this crowd-funded recording by what is clearly an enterprising and excitingly talented young ensemble out of York University, but perhaps pressing ahead with a recording of an established classic in these far from conducive conditions was a mistake.

D. James Ross

 

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À sa guitare

CD cover A sa guitare

Philippe Jaroussky, Thibaut Garcia
69:03
Erato 0 190295 005702

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This eclectic CD seems to be the result of two musicians ‘clicking’ and enjoying making music together – and this enthusiasm infuses the wide range of repertoire represented here. While Jaroussky’s countertenor voice is largely associated with music of the Baroque, Thibaut Garcia plays a modern guitar and the pair range throughout the entire history of music from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Curiously, the earliest repertoire (Dowland and Purcell) and the latest repertoire (Poulenc, Granados, Rodriguez, and Britten) sound the most effective, while the classical and romantic music is more problematic. Perhaps this is less due to the arrangements for guitar, which are surprisingly effective, than to the appropriateness of the countertenor voice for this repertoire. Schubert’s Erlkönig is a case in point. The contrasting use of different registers in the original is turned on its head, while the guitar struggles to portray the pounding hooves of the horse with anything like the drama of Schubert’s original writing. I remember attending a performance by the countertenor Andreas Scholl of romantic Lieder, and I had exactly the same reservations about that. It seems inevitable that specialists in the music of a particular period find the grass greener in unrelated periods. This CD is evidence that, while the musicians may be superb exponents of their art, such explorations can only be partly successful. And then again, the lovely modern ballad Septembre by Barbara works superbly well – perhaps the mistake was feeling the need to spread themselves across the history of music, rather than finding truly sympathetic repertoire. To end on a positive note, the two musicians’ musical rapport and superb musicality emanate from every track, and the repertoire which does work is beautifully executed.

D. James Ross

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Vivaldi: Entre Ombre et Lumière

CD cover Vivaldi entre ombre et lumière Ensemble Baroque de Toulouse

Caroline Champy Tursun mezzo-soprano, Ensemble Baroque de Toulouse, Michel Brun
61:02

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This CD features Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater RV 621, sung by mezzo-soprano Caroline Champy Tursun, who also supplies a selection of arias from Bajazet, Giustino, Farnace and Orlando furioso, while the ensemble’s director appears as flute soloist in the flute Concerto Il Gardellino and the strings contribute the Sinfonia al Santo Sepolcro Rv 169. Recorded using a system called ECA in the Chapelle Notre-Dame-d’Alet, the performance is extraordinarily vivid – to my ear, unsettlingly so! As most of the orchestral playing is one-to-a-part and the default approach is distinctly ‘choppy’, I found the occasional legato sections, as in the slow movement of the flute concerto, a blessed relief, while much of Tursun’s singing was also pleasantly musical. The presentation of the package is distinctly odd – I still haven’t found a record label or a number, so have stated the group’s website in its place, although that doesn’t appear to be on the package either. The single CD is attached to the bottom of a box, which accommodates a huge folded sheet of programme notes, like a motoring map and for all its size only in French. Of course, this eccentric presentation need not put anyone off purchasing this CD, except that it is a reflection of the eccentricity of the performance, which seemed to go out of its way to distort Vivaldi’s music in a variety of ways. I have mentioned the persistent choppiness, and in the Sinfonia Al Santo Sepolcro a rather arch approach to the legato texture made this piece sound equally eccentric. Poor Vivaldi seems particularly open to ‘interpretation’, to the extent that it is quite unusual to hear his music given a good straightforward performance. It is probably true that Vivaldi is played too much, but rather than finding some new spurious approach to his music, why not turn to his less frequently played contemporaries? The present forces could easily have presented fine performances of these pieces, but seemed too intent upon being quirky.

D. James Ross

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Gesualdo: 6th book of madrigals

Digital download album Gesualdo 6th book of madrigals La legende noire

La légende noire, La Guilde des Mercenaires, Adrien Mabire
65:56

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These performances of madrigals from Gesualdo’s extraordinary final publication, Book VI, a work of stunningly daring harmonic progressions and musical non sequiturs, are themselves revelatory. La Guilde des Mercenaires under the direction of Adrien Mabire are attempting something revolutionary, performances of Gesualdo with wind instruments. The programme note asks why performances of Monteverdi are regularly presented with instruments, while Gesualdo is almost invariably presented a capella. The answer seems obvious – that while Gesualdo’s highly chromatic idiom is tricky for singers, it is perhaps even more tricky for early wind instruments. These performances seem to belie these difficulties, as the wind instruments, occasionally playing on their own, never sound less than comfortable. Whether this is due to the technical proficiency of the players, or whether after all Gesualdo’s writing is more about unexpected progressions and juxtapositions rather than sheer chromaticism, and therefore possibly easier for wind players than singers, the overall effect is very convincing. Part of the ongoing questioning of the myth of a capella performance, it is encouraging to see younger players challenging the old dogmas of HIP performance and exploring alternatives. The wind component of these performances is a real revelation – the vocal contribution is also pretty impressive, and when voices and instruments combine we get a genuine flavour of a whole new dimension of Gesualdo’s music. I still remember the effect of first hearing Byrd’s Great Service with wind and before that, performances of Dufay Masses with voices and wind, and I can’t help feeling that this recording is a similar moment of transformation.

D. James Ross

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Sabine Devieihle: Bach · Handel

CD cover Sabine Devieihle sings Bach and Handel

Sabine Devieihle: Bach · Handel
Pygmalion, Raphael Pichon
83:37
Earto 1 90296 67786 1

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The stated aim of this CD is ‘to portray affliction and repentance as well as joy and desire through the works, sacred and profane,’ of Bach and Handel. This catch-all mission statement has the ring of something made up to try to cover an eclectic range of performances, and indeed that proves to be what we are presented with. However, the sweet-voiced Sabine Devielhe sings so expressively and exquisitely while the forces of Pygmalion make such a wonderfully effective contribution that it almost doesn’t matter that the thematic links may be a little tenuous. The programme provides beautiful performances of Bach’s cantatas BWV 51 and 199, as well as the Sinfonia from BWC 199 and the sacred song Mein Jesu was vor Seelenweh BWV 487. Perhaps the odd part of the programme is that where a further couple of Bach cantatas and sacred songs could have provided the balance, the performers turn instead to the oratorios and operas of Handel. We have two arias from the Brockes Passion, interspersed with two arias from Giulio Cesare, rounded off with the final aria from Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno. Interestingly, the Brockes Passion finds Handel at his most Bachian, and the direct comparison that this juxtaposition invites is instructive. The impressive Devieilhe proves equally effective as a singer of Baroque opera, while her account of the concluding recit and aria from Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno is simply spellbinding. The concluding showpiece, BWV 51 Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, in which Devieilhe duets dramatically with Pygmalion’s trumpeter, Hannes Rux, is a suitably showy conclusion to this enjoyable and impressive CD. Raphael Pichon, who can on occasion be a bit of a showman, demonstrates here that he can direct with subtlety and refinement, allowing this powerful music to speak very much for itself.

D. James Ross