Charles Medlam is clearly on to greater things. During the last decade his informed playing and direction of London Baroque have steadily gained in authority. Originally a trio, London Baroque have changed size and shape at different times to meet the requirements of particular seventeenth and eighteenth-century repertories, but the trend has been one of expansion, and with this recording they move forcefully into larger-scale vocal genres. Blow's Venus and Adonis was a pivotal work in the history of English music, a miniature opera (though called a masque by the composer) and an excellent choice for London Baroque. It is often compared with Dido and Aeneas and although Purcell's work is the greater, Blow's—intended for court performers rather than school girls—is in many respects the more sophisticated.
Medlam is not a sentimentalist. His preferences are for clearly articulated and sprightly textures; the choral sections in Venus and Adonis are just that, the overtures, dances (Act 2) and act tunes stylishly but never self-consciously played. There is great sensitivity too, especially in the vocal contributions of the soloists and in the continuo playing of Nigel North and Nicholas Parle. Nancy Argenta's Cupid is artful and delicately sung, with just a hint of youthful tension underlying. Lynne Dawson's Venus is, more often than not, ravishing, the leaps that characterize her part sensuous triumphant and ultimately tragic. Stephen Varcoe's Adonis is virile and tenderly gallant, Rogers Covey-Crump's brief solo appearance as the huntsman a delight. The contributions by the shepherdess and shepherd in the prologue have been differently miked to create a sense of distance. Medlam has presumably taken as his starting-point the late Sir Anthony Lewis's edition of Blow's masque, though he has altered the order at one point: ''Cupid's entry'' has been shifted from the beginning to the end of the prologue (which may work well on a recording but would be impractical in a staged perfommance).
This is an important recording and well worth acquiring, whether to discover the delights of the music or further to chart the evolution of one of Britain's finest early music ensembles.'