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Refreshing New Take On Purcell’s Fantasias & In Nomines

John Greene

Artistic Quality:

Sound Quality:

After the brief opening six-part In Nomine, and just a few seconds into the following Fantasia 4, you’ll hear something you’ve likely not heard in any other performance of these pieces: the entrance of a keyboard continuo. In the notes, Les Basses Réunies gambist and consort leader Bruno Cocset explains, “We have added a continuo in some passages: a harpsichord with gut strings, specially created for the occasion. This helps to bring out the extraordinarily rich narrative and contemplative qualities of this music.” He’s right; it does–especially given how intelligently and artfully this unique, uncharacteristic-sounding harpsichord, performed by Bertrand Cuiller, has been integrated into these profoundly youthful Purcell settings.

In the previously mentioned Fantasia 4, one of the quieter, more subtly evolving settings, the harpsichord sounds more clavichord-like, entering as a subtle, slightly percussive element enhancing the momentum of the strings throughout the piece. In Fantasias 8 and 15, the harpsichord functions much the same way, though in other selections its role becomes more assertive as the pieces develop. For instance, in Fantasia 7 a fresh, new rhythmic interplay between the keyboard and strings is created, as in Fantasia 10 where Cuiller’s witty articulation at times is more evocative of a lute continuo than a keyboard. Halfway through Fantasia 11 the harpsichord and strings play off one another to great effect, heightening the buoyant dance element unimaginable with strings alone.

The string consort performances themselves are on par with the best. In the famous Fantasia Upon One Note (Cuiller opens the piece striking the D!), Les Basses Réunies rivals Hesperion XX (Astrée) and Fretwork (Harmonia Mundi) in its subtle rhythmic gradations and concluding flash of swagger and vitality. Their performance of the lengthiest setting, Fantasia 9, is especially stunning. Though their timing is similar, Les Basses Réunies draws out inner tonal and dynamic details that other ensembles–especially London Baroque (EMI Reflexe), Fretwork (Virgin), and Phantasm (Simax)–sadly tend to gloss over. Here, their performance again is on par with Hesperion XX’s magnificent achievement (which has also been very favorably reviewed here–read review).

What tips the scales in favor of this release, however, is simply the sound. Astrée’s 1995 digital sonics were outstanding in their day (the performance has been reissued as an Alia Vox SACD, which I have not heard) but noticeably pale in comparison to Agogique’s state-of-the-art production. The instruments are all richly detailed, convincingly full-bodied, yet distanced enough in the sound stage to foil any extraneous and potentially distracting extra-musical (“squeaky” as one colleague recently put it) performance noises. If you’re a fan of these settings and may even already possess recordings of them, you’d still do very well to consider adding this remarkable alternative performance to your collection. It’s really spectacular and highly recommended.

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Recording Details:

Reference Recording: Hesperion XX (Astrée); Fretwork (Harmonia Mundi)

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