Les Passions; Jean-Marc Andrieu

LIGIA LIDI 0202233-11                    

This new recording from Les Passions is devoted to Marc-Antoine Charpentier, two longer works flanking a number of brief but exquisite compositions.

All of the vocal items are for male voices – drawing on the refined tones of counter-tenor Vincent Lievre-Picard, tenor Sebastien Obrecht and bass Jean-Manuel Condenot – while Les Passions  provide both orchestral support and a number of purely instrumental interludes.

Throughout one is aware of the dance rhythms that underpin even the most deeply felt of spiritual text setting. The opening Magnificat has a joyful  ¾ rhythm which is maintained throughout. Similarly Veni creator has a sense of lift and buoyancy in the lightness of the instrumentation. By contrast the pleading tones of the Salve Regina seem almost melancholic within the context.

The brief interludes show what a master Charpentier is of succinct expression, which is always apt for its liturgical function.

As always, Jean-Marc Andrieu  creates a musical world which is at the same time convincingly authentic yet always alive and enchanting to hear.

Details of performances by Les Passions can be found at www.les-passions.fr and details of the Festival at Abbatiale Saint Robert de La Chaise-Dieu can be found in the News section of this site.

BH

 Gerald Finzi: By Footpath and Stile & other chamber works

The Finzi Quartet; Marcus Farnsworth, baritone; Robert Plane, clarinet; Ruth Bolister, oboe

RESONUS RES 10109            73.05

Gerald Finzi is still nowhere near as well recognised as he should be. This quietly wonderful new recording must make us ask yet again why this is so. The opening Romance is as delicate as an early spring flower, yet has the strength within its structure to weather any storm. There is no simplistic romanticism, though romantic it certainly is.

The Finzi Quartet bring elegance of musical line, as well as sensitivity of nuance throughout. Their solo items are compelling while their work with others expands the field without ever disrupting the hushed introspection of the whole disc.

Much of the credit for this must go to the arrangements of Christian Alexander which maintain the tentativeness of Finzi’s original scores without risking sentimentality or too extrovert a voice.

Marcus Farnsworth’s rich English tones sit comfortably with Thomas Hardy’s poems, finding the faith and hope inherent in The Oxen and the slight rise in intensity for Exeunt omnes.

The clarinet brings some fire to the Five Bagatelles, but does not outweigh the earlier mood of gentle melancholy. More please. BH

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 Graham Ashton, trumpet; Michael Matthes, organ

SIGNUM SIGCD 306        58’17”

This recording becomes more interesting and challenging as it progresses. Works by da Pesaro and Pachelbel slip past easily, as do the arrangements of Handel’s Sonata in F and Purcell’s Parts upon a Ground. The organ sound is classical, light and pleasing, the trumpet clear and sparkling in the upper registers.

Bach’s familiar D minor Toccata & Fugue seems somewhat out of place amidst the other works. The approach is somewhat frenetic and textures become garbled in the Toccata, though the Fugue is better paced and has greater clarity.

The two modern works are both very pleasing. Graham Ashton’s rather austere Fantasia on a Ground after Purcell makes striking use of the acoustic in Tulle. The opening is so quiet I thought something was wrong with my system.

Roger Steptoe’s Sonata for trumpet and organ is an equally challenging piece though one that recommends itself on subsequent hearing. Tonality is used to create tension, which contrasts impressively with the musical lines spinning out with great beauty.

If the recording seems rather unbalanced it is worth it if only for the items, at beginning and end, which are so splendidly performed. BH