It might seem odd that the main work on a disc featuring works of Purcell probably was not even written by the great 17th-century English master. The music for Thomas Shadwell’s 1674 adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest has enjoyed years of mistaken attribution, but that doesn’t mean its songs, airs, choruses, and instrumental sections aren’t well worth hearing. One of the songs, “Dear pretty youth”, is in fact by Purcell, and its performance by soprano Gillian Keith is one of the highlights of this recording. Another, “Come unto these yellow sands”, is a recital favorite, and again we are treated to a fine rendition, this time by mezzo-soprano Rosemarie van der Hooft. The show begins with an overture from another Purcell work, and its French style is rubbed a little too smooth, its dotted rhythms too lazy for my taste. The orchestra, a Toronto-based period instrument group, was configured for this recording after Louis XIV’s Band of 24 Violins, with the addition of a small group of winds. It’s a polished and responsive ensemble that effectively uses its forces to make the most of the score’s variety of colors and textures.
The rest of the program is all Purcell, from the famous Chacony for strings and two works featuring trumpet, to the little “cantata”, If ever I more riches did desire, for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra. This last is a relatively compact example of Purcell’s genius for melody and for dramatic text setting. Much of the solo singing is first rate–the above-mentioned women, as well as tenor Michael Colvin and baritone Brett Polegato, who does an especially nice job with Neptune’s aria “Aeolus, you must appear”. The chorus is quite good, but the recording puts it at odds with the acoustic space, its sound distant and cavernous. We don’t notice this sonic effect in the trumpet pieces, which are very well presented and balanced–or in the vocal sections without chorus. And by the way, if you’re interested in Purcell’s trumpet music, there’s not very much of it here–only seven-plus minutes, and of that, the solo part is pretty small and not all that interesting. Nevertheless, trumpet soloist Norman Engel delivers clear, flawless, bright tone and pleasingly unmannered performances. Naxos continues to mine some of Canada’s relatively untapped musical riches with this almost entirely Canadian cast, and from a performance perspective, it makes a happy listening experience. Beginning with a rather shaky premise, the programming is the recording’s weakness–it simply doesn’t make much sense. Get this one for its several individual high points, including the Chacony and the solo vocal work of van der Hooft, Keith, Polegato, and Colvin.
