PURCELL Songs & Dances (Tim Mead)
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Alpha
Magazine Review Date: 12/2018
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 66
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: ALPHA419
Author: Lindsay Kemp
The vocal numbers are sung by Tim Mead, a top-class English countertenor of the kind that could have been made for this music, notwithstanding that not everything here was written for his voice-type. His singing radiates rich colour, smooth lyricism and exquisite musicality, and alone would be enough to make this disc treasurable. Yet the most striking aspect of these performances undoubtedly lies in the instrumental music as served up by Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, which is full of life and colour. Given that director François Lazarevitch is a recorder player, it is perhaps fair to expect that instrument to feature more than it might elsewhere (for instance in the Fantazia upon a Ground), and neither is it surprising that the ornamentation often lends the music a French accent; but the sheer rhythmic flair and Celtic-flavoured folksiness with which they deliver so many of the dances is also enhanced in places by the rasp of a musette or jangle of a cittern. The recording is clear and full-bodied, though with an irritatingly abrupt fade-up at the very start. But never mind, this disc is a hugely enjoyable Purcellian celebration.
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