I’m of two minds about Canadian countertenor Daniel Taylor’s “Lamento” disc, which also features the fine musicians of the Theatre of Early Music, directed by none other than Daniel Taylor himself. On the one hand, this program features some little-known gems of the German Baroque. It’s a real pleasure to hear this repertoire: there’s rarely-heard Schütz, a lovely J.C. Bach aria, a Hoffmann cantata once ascribed to J.S. Bach, and a flurry of Buxtehude. Taylor’s choices show off his incredibly smooth, never-forced voice and his gossamer-light touch. His instrumentalists share a similarly deft handling of this material. Again, it’s an excellent match; clearly, Taylor has a talent for finding settings that perfectly highlight his voice. In a golden age of countertenors, he’s a star, and this disc should earn him additional fans.
Having said that, a disc of mostly slow-moving, somber laments is just too much of a good thing. Even the insertion of three instrumental works (Schmelzer’s instrumental Lamento sopra la morte Ferdinandi III a tre–yes, another lament; Philipp Heinrich Erlebach’s Sonata Terza six-movement suite; and one brief piece by Buxtehude, Mit Fried und Freund) is just not enough to break up the repetition. The sound is slightly dry but well-balanced nonetheless.
