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The Art of Alfred Deller TRADITIONAL The Three Ravens [3:23]; The Cuckoo [1:45];
Barbara Allen [2:12];Hey, Ho, the Wind and the Rain [1:59];
I Will Give My Love an Apple [1:45];The Oak and
the Ash [2:23];King Henry
[2:44];Greensleeves [2:18] ANONYMOUS Sumer
is icumen in [1:44]
Thomas MORLEY
Now is the Month of Maying [1:45]
William BYRD Come, Pretty Babe [1:33]
John WILBYE
Thus Saith My Cloris Bright [1:28]
Thomas WEELKES To Shorten Winter's Sadness [2:04]
Robert PARSONS
Pandolpho [4:08] Thomas MORLEY
In Dew of Roses [2:48]
George Frederic HANDEL Eternal Source of Light Divine [6:58] Orlando de LASSUS
Matona Mia Cara [2:15]
Claudio MONTEVERDI
Lasciate Mi Morire [2:15]
Pierre PASSEREAU
Il est Bel et Bon [1:22] Claudio SARACINI
Da Te Parto [3:10]
Josquin DES PREZ
La Deploration de Jehan Okeghem [5:13]
Heinrich SCHUTZ ErhoreMich [2:53] Henry PURCELL
Music for a While (Oedipus) [4:05]; I Attempt from Love's Sickness to Fly (The
Indian Queen) [2:19]; Sound the Trumpet (Come Ye Sons of
Art) [2:44]; Secrecie's Song (The Fairy Queen) [2:03];
Mystery's Song (The Fairy Queen) [0:56]; Fairest Isle
(King Arthur) [2:41]; If Music be the Food of Love (1st version,
1692) [2:38]
The Deller Consort: April Cantelo, Eileen McLoughlin, Honor Sheppard,
Mary Thomas,
Sally Le Sage, Eileen Poulter (sopranos);
Robert Tear, Gerald English, Wilfred Brown, Max Worthley, Philip
Todd, (tenors); Maurice Bevan, (baritone); Geoffrey Coleby, (bass),
Walter Bergman, (harpsichord), Desmond Dupre, (lute), Wenzinger
Consort of Viols of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Oriana Concert
Choir and Orchestra; Ensemble of Baroque Instruments, Oriana Concert
Orchestra, Leonhardt Baroque Ensemble; Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord/director),
Mark Deller (counter-tenor), Alfred Deller (counter-tenor and conductor)
rec. no dates or locations given
ADD/AAD
ALTO ALC1018 [75:44]
Alfred Deller was more than just a remarkable voice. He was a
pioneer, responsible for re-introducing the counter-tenor voice,
and celebrated for his revivals of baroque music and particularly
Purcell. His craftsmanship as a musician was impressive for one
almost entirely self-trained; his singing sublime.
This
compilation disc brings together some of the most important
Deller recordings covering the four main genres that he recorded
– Folksong, English Madrigals and Airs, European Vocal music,
and Purcell. The disc opens with eight well-known folksongs,
accompanied with great sensitivity and skill by Desmond Dupre
on the lute. These are followed by seven English madrigals
and airs, some with the Deller Consort, founded by Alfred
Deller, others with the Wenzinger Consort of Viols of the
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. These include works by Byrd,
Morley, Weelkes, Parsons and so on. The seven European vocal
works include composers ranging from Handel and Lassus through
to Monteverdi and Schutz, performed by the Oriana Concert
Choir and Orchestra, Desmond Dupre, and the Ensemble of Baroque
Instruments. The disc concludes with seven songs by the composer
with whom Deller is most often associated – Henry Purcell.
In these works, Deller is accompanied by Walter Bergman on
the harpsichord, and the Leonhardt Baroque Ensemble, with
the great Leonhardt himself directing from the harpsichord.
With the exception of the desperately moving Music for
a While, perhaps the highlight of this whole disc, brimming
as it is with ‘classics’, is Sound the Trumpet from
Come Ye Sons of Art, in which Alfred is joined by the
Oriana Concert Orchestra and by his son, Mark, also singing
counter-tenor, in a glorious performance of a superb work.
Many
will be familiar with Alfred’s voice, and this disc shows
it at its best - incredibly expressive and characterful, with
a good enunciation, and a great ability to adapt perfectly
to whatever role he is playing, whether it is bold, rowdy
and swaggering, beautifully pure and delicate or melancholic
and deeply moving.
The
presentation of the disc is just slightly disappointing, and
it is a pity about the typo in the notes of Vaughan Williams
as “Vaugan Williams” – this is otherwise an excellent disc,
and a very good compilation for those who love Alfred Deller’s
wonderful voice.
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