This collection of baroque arias - and a couple of Elizabethan lute
songs - is a splendid taster for those who haven’t yet exploited
this niche of the music: the counter-tenors. This voice-type has existed
at least since the 14th century, mainly in polyphonic compositions
and later it was also common in solo songs and arias. During the 19th
century it fell out of fashion. It was only in the second half of
the 20th century that the voice-type was revived, and it
was Alfred Deller (1912 - 1979) who was the ground-breaker. In 1948
he founded his Deller Consort, specializing in historically informed
performances. Among his early followers can be mentioned James Bowman
(b. 1941), Paul Esswood (b. 1942) and René Jacobs (b. 1946)
- the latter nowadays pursuing a highly successful career as conductor.
During the last two-three decades there has been an increased interest
in the counter-tenor voice, both from performers and audiences. Eight
singers of undisputed high quality can be heard here, and they are
only the tip of the iceberg.
Repertoire-wise very little is standard fare - only the aria from
Orfeo ed Euridice (tr. 4) is really well-known - but the composers’
names should be a guarantee that this is music on a high level. Antonio
Vivaldi is primarily known for his instrumental music but he composed
enormous amounts of sacred choral music and more than forty operas
that are musically on a par with Handel’s. Nisi Dominus
is both personal in style and melodically pleasing, and as sung here
by the superb Philippe Jaroussky it could very well become a favourite
aria: what beauty, what breath-control, what musical phrasing. The
other track with Jaroussky, the aria from Orlando furioso (tr.
8), is equally fine. Here the singer shares the stage with the flautist
Jean-Marc Goujon. This is superb music making on all fronts. The pioneer
James Bowman, supposedly recorded in the 1970s or 1980s, is more alto-ish
in timbre in the Dixit Dominus (tr. 5). A lively aria from
Griselda (tr. 9) is exquisitely sung by Iestyn Davies, a great
admirer of Bowman. His technique is superb. The Korean David DQ Lee
sings the long phrases in an aria from Orlando (tr. 12) with
a seemingly inexhaustible supply of air and beautiful tone. Dominique
Visse, born 1955, has a leaner, thinner voice but his coloratura and
trill are masterly in the dramatic aria from Montezuma (tr.
13). Another Frenchman, Gerard Lesne, belongs to the same generation.
He offers the only French number, from Charpentier’s oratorio
(tr. 10) and displays an uncommonly deep and dark voice - but impeccable
technique in the fast finale. He also executes two songs by John Dowland
with good feeling for the text (trs. 6 and 14) and in Purcell’s
O solitude (tr. 3) with plaintive tone.
James Bowman sings Che faro fromOrfeo ed Euridice (tr.
4) with the same rounded tone as Kathleen Ferrier on an old Decca
recording from the 1940s - one of earliest records. Where Ferrier
feels drowsy at a very expansive tempo, Bowman’s Orfeo, though
sad, is more positive and alive. In the aria from Handel’s Giulio
Cesare (tr. 11) he is dramatic and duets boldly with an impertinent
French horn.
The German Andreas Scholl has become one of the foremost Bach interpreters
and his two cantata arias (trs. 2 and 7) are lessons in powerful and
robust singing with a focus on the texts.
The bonus track, from the motion picture soundtrack for the film Farinelli,
il castrato, was no doubt what triggered the interest in high
male voices back in 1994. This is, it has to be admitted, a falsification,
insofar as they have mixed Derek Lee Ragin’s counter-tenor with
Ewa Mallas-Godlewska’s soprano to create a sound as close as
possible to that of the castrato singer. The result is an exhibition
in virtuoso singing, almost incredible. In recent years Cecilia Bartoli
has recorded the same aria, from Broschi’s Artaserse
in the album Sacrificium. If you haven’t heard that disc
I urge you to invest in it without delay. However, for a wider spectrum
of the counter-tenor voice the present disc is an excellent sample.
Göran Forsling
Track listing
Antonio VIVALDI (1678 - 1741)
Nisi Dominus, RV608:
1. Cum dederit delectis suis somnum [5:12]
Philippe Jaroussky, Ensemble Matheus/Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685 - 1750)
Cantata BWV 175, “Es rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen”:
2. Komm, leite mich [3:32]
Andreas Scholl, Concerto Vocale, Leipzig, Ensemble Baroque de Limoges/Christoph
Coin (violoncello piccolo)
Henry PURCELL (1659 - 1695)
3. O solitude, my sweetest choice! Z 406 [6:06]
Gérard Lesne, Il seminario musicale
Christoph Willibald GLUCK (1714 - 1787)
Orfeo ed Euridice, act III:
4. Che faró senza Euridice? [3:30]
James Bowman, La grande écurie & la chambre du Roy/Jean-Claude
Malgoire
Antonio VIVALDI
Dixit Dominus:
5. De torrente [2:16]
James Bowman, La grande écurie & la chambre du Roy/Jean-Claude
Malgoire
John DOWLAND (1563 - 1626)
6. Can she excuse [3:40]
Gérard Lesne, Ensemble Orlando Gibbons
Johann Sebastian BACH
Cantata BWV 85, “Ich bin ein guter Hirt”:
7. Jesus ist ein guter Hirt [3:20]
Andreas Scholl, Concerto Vocale, Leipzig, Ensemble Baroque de Limoges/Christoph
Coin (violoncello piccolo)
Antonio VIVALDI
Orlando furioso, RV 728, act I:
8. Sol da te, mio dolce amore [7:52]
Philippe Jaroussky, Jean-Marc Goujon (flute), Ensemble Matheus/Jean-Christophe
Spinosi
Antonio VIVALDI
Griselda, RV 718, act II:
9. La rondinella amante [3:46]
Iestyn Davies, Ensemble Matheus/Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Marc-Antoine CHARPENTIER (1643 - 1704)
Mors Saülis & Jonathae, H 403:
10. Ecquid ad surdos nunc spargo carmina? [2:18}
Gérard Lesne, Il seminario musicale
George Frideric HANDEL (1685 - 1759)
Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17:
11. Va tacito e nascosto [6:39]
James Bowman, La grande écurie & la chambre du Roy/Jean-Claude
Malgoire
Antonio VIVALDI
Orlando 1714, RV 819, act II:
12. Piangerò, sin che l’onda del pianto [3:56]
David DQ Lee, Modo Antiquo/Federico Maria Sardelli
Antonio VIVALDI
Montezuma, RV 723, act I:
13. Gl’oltraggidella sorte [3:32]
Dominique Visse, La grande écurie & la chambre du Roy/Jean-Claude
Malgoire
John DOWLAND
14. Flow my tears [4:13]
Gérard Lesne, Ensemble Orlando Gibbons
Bonus track:
from “Farinelli, il castrato” (original motion picture
soundtrack)
Riccardo BROSCHI (1698 - 1756)
15. Son qual nave ch’agitata [8:20]
Ewa Mallas-Godlewska (soprano), Derek Lee Ragin (counter-tenor), Les
Talens Lyriques/Christophe Rousset
