Early Music on Record Review

[Tony Halstead]

his diction was pretty good.

oh dear, I think that's 'damning with faint praise'...!
IMV his diction was examplary.

[Christopher Pontifex]

As good as Guillon is, I don't think there is any evidence that lute songs were sung by counter-tenors during the 1590s to 1620s. That's really another way of saying that, for my tastes, there are too many counter-tenor recordings of English lute songs being issued lately and not enough by tenors and basses (sopranos are quite well represented, female altos less so). The Davies/Dunford is ruined a little by Dunford's use of an inappropriate lute (single-strung archlute instead of a double-strung, 7-course alto lute, and thus too big, loud and coarse) as well as by some rather inappropriate ornamentation by Davies. And, I agree, his diction is a little wanting.
The Guillon/Bellocq suffers from an even less appropriate lute - a modern guitar/lute hybrid called "liuto forte" (many parts of which are patented, I understand), which has a prolonged sustain like a guitar which (I think) undermines the superb playing of the lutenist, Eric Bellocq.

[Richard Tarleton]

Indeed the words are most important. I often think of Thomas Campion who wrote much of his own text (I don't know if Dowland was poetically inclined) and he must surely have wanted his words to be clearly heard. I was lucky enough to know Robert Spencer, the lutenist (who has now sadly died) and he would often play and sing (in a baritone register) at private gatherings and social occasions. He would be the first to admit that his was not a great voice, BUT he 'told the story' and frankly I felt in my bones his sort of rendition was all the more affecting. I think many countertenors concentrate on beauty of sound. Deller did for certain, but he also managed to bring great expressiveness to his Dowland recordings. He had certain mannerisms (e.g. that diminuendo-ing on high notes) but his diction was pretty good.

Thanks ardcarp. And welcome, Christopher Pontifex! Good to hear from you. Interesting re the anachronistic lute, yes I was puzzled by the photo in the CD notes, the lute seems to have at least 3 diapasons which seems excessive for the period. Re Dowland's words, I quote from Diana Poulton, the leading authority on Dowland (whom I was glad to hear being name-checked by Dr Gibson the other day )

In recent years [>1970-odd] the authorship of a number of the poems used by Dowland has been traced, but many remain where, so far, no identification has been made....Some of these may possibly have been provided by his distinguished patrons, In addition to the few really fine poets in the Queen's immediate circle, many of the courtiers were capable of writing respectable verse, although convention demanded anonymity except among the author's closest friends. This dislike of publicity among the nobility and gentry concerning their poetic works is responsible for much of the unclaimed verse of the period not only in the lutenist song-books, but in the madrigal collections as well. The same type of author may also have produced the translations from Italian lyrics occasionally used by composers of the time.

The suggestion has sometimes been put forward that Dowland himself wrote some of the poems he set to music. Although there is no definite evidence to prove his authorship of any stanzas in the song-books he certainly showed he could write verse by the commendatory poems he contributed to his friends' publications. These, however, mostly fall far below the level attained by many of the pyrics he made use of.

She discusses the evidence for the authorship of "Now O Now", both tune and poem, at some length

[ardcarp]

CP, thanks for those scholarly comments! I would just chip in that, from Saturday's programme, we could surmise that there was no single 'right' way of performing any of Dowland's music, and it can probably stand quite a bit of diverse treatment. There is of course the wider issue of whether, in days of yore, countertenors were falsettists or just high tenors....but that's opening another can of worms.

[doversoul1]

Lully: Amadis: Disc of the Week 7 November

11.40
[…the usual blurb]

Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

11.40
[…the usual blurb]

Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques

Now, that's more like it!

[Black Swan]

I have already taken the plunge.. This is in my opinion a very fine recording and I have been enjoying allot over the past week.

[Nick Armstrong]

I have already taken the plunge.. This is in my opinion a very fine recording and I have been enjoying allot over the past week.

Same here

[doversoul1]

9.00am
JS Bach: Violin Concertos
Giuliano Carmignola (violin, conductor), Concerto Koln

Corelli: Six Sonatas Op. 5
Michala Petri (recorder), Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)

The Corelli GD is rather intriguing.

[ed.] oh… the usual blurb has been deleted. Pity. I should have copied it. It was an excellent example of its kind.

[doversoul1]

14 November: Bach, Vivaldi and Corelli

10.30am
Hannah French joins Andrew to discuss a fascinating array of new releases of music by Bach, Vivaldi and Corelli

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04p50vg

Presto Classical lists some six Vivaldi ‘New’ CDs, including
Nigel Kennedy: The Four Seasons
25th Anniversary Special Edition

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Warner%2BClassics/2564628814

and
Vivaldi: Concertos for 2 Cellos
Julian Lloyd Webber (cello), Jiaxin Lloyd Webber (cello)
European Union Chamber Orchestra, Hans-Peter Hofmann
(could this be our coco…?)

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/Naxos/8573374

Oh, and
11.40am
Disc of the Week
Haydn's evergreen oratorio, The Seasons,

[MickyD]

"Fascinating" is certainly not the adjective I would employ for that Nigel Kennedy recording of The Four Seasons!

[doversoul1]

More details
9.00
ALLEGRI arranged Vladimir Ivanoff: Miserere mei, Deus
Michael Krenn (saxophone), Chorus Sine Nomine, Johannes Hiemetsberger
(hmmm…)

10.40: New Release
Dr. Hannah French joins Andrew to discuss a fascinating array of new releases of baroque music.

BACH, J S: Orchestral Suites Nos. 1-4, BWV1066-1069
Richard Egarr (director, harpsichord), Academy of Ancient Music

VIVALDI: The Four Seasons & String Concerti
European Union Baroque Orchestra, Lars Ulrik Mortensen (director & harpsichord)

Vivaldi: Concerti per flauto
Maurice Steger (recorders), I Barocchisti, Diego Fasolis (conductor)

CORELLI: La Follia*
Michala Petri (recorder), Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)

JS Bach: Violin Concertos*
Giuliano Carmignola (violin, director), Mayumi Hirasaki* (violin) Concerto Koln

JS Bach: The Art of Fugue
Angela Hewitt (piano)

*Didn’t we have these last week? A shortage of new release?
[ed.] Mayumi Hirasaki* ; This is in the original (webpage)

P.S
It seems that Haydn’s The Seasons is no longer evergreen.

[Black Swan]

Interesting list. I already have the Hewitt Art of the Fugue I am also interested in Michaela Petri's CD. So will listen for those. The rest especially the Saxophone transcription leave me cold.

[ardcarp]

The rest especially the Saxophone transcription leave me cold.

It's hardly 'early music'...see my comment under CD Review.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I was greatly intrigued by the dramatic performances of the Bach Violin Concertos - quite unlike other recordings I know (Menuhin/Enescu, Grimieaux, Kujiken & Manze) but, on the evidence of the excerpts played this morning, entirely convincing readings of the works.

But, did I misunderstand, or did they really say that you get more Music if you buy the Download version than on the CD? Is this a new phenomenon, or have I just missed the boat about such things?