Makaris
71:23
Olde Focus Recordings FCR924
Alan Ramsay’s pastoral opera of 1725 is a remarkable piece which I feel has never received the attention or status that it deserves. Written/compiled three years before the iconic Beggar’s Opera, it essentially kicked off the whole ballad opera vogue of the early 18th century and remains one of the finest examples of the genre. Borrowing from a wide range of traditional and ‘classical’ sources of the time, Ramsay has produced a work with genuine folky charm and elegance. The text itself, in literary Scots, is linguistically accomplished, with a wicked ironic squint, which it bequeathed to the later ballad operas. The ensemble Makaris takes a very creative approach to the music, with imaginative use of a variety of early/traditional instruments. Amongst them is the stock-and-horn, a mainly Scottish woodwind instrument, which came into prominence in the 18th century, and has an oboe-like body ending in a cow-horn bell. It has a free-vibrating single reed, making it an early member of the clarinet family, and it has a pleasant and mellow tone. It appears as a prop in many 18th-century engravings and paintings of Scottish rural scenes, including some depictions of Ramsay’s Gentle Shepherd. In this recording, lively and convincing accounts of the 21 songs are peppered with six well-chosen instrumental interludes selected from 18th-century sources. Just occasionally, a couple of the singers struggle with the upper register of the implausibly extensive tessitura of these mock rustic pieces – I have often wondered if this suggests that originally a semi-spoken delivery might have been employed by 18th-century actresses? The original ballad opera has an extensive rhyming text and a cast of eleven – the present recording rationalises a few of the characters and features radio broadcaster David ‘Jock’ Nicol as narrator, who sets scenes and links the narrative. Talking over some of the music and sounding very much like an electronic add-on, I found this aspect less than successful. A semi-staged performance of the complete ballad opera some years ago directed by David McGuinness with his Concerto Caledonia and a full cast demonstrated the merits of the complete work, and perhaps like The Beggar’s Opera, this important piece deserves to be committed to CD in its entirety. McGuinness went on to produce an authoritative edition of the piece and to record all the songs. In the meantime, this sympathetic and entertaining account of the songs by Makaris speaks powerfully for more attention to be paid to this neglected work – and perhaps it is overdue another production!
D. James Ross