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Reviewer:
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood Purcell's death in 1695 galvanized many would-be editors into feverish action. Publications of songs, sonatas and solo keyboard music appeared soon after, though A Collection 01 Ayres. Composed for the Theatre, and upon other Occasions (the tercentenary of whose publication we celebrate in 1997) stands out as an especially poignant memorial through the composer's most celebrated oeuvre. Ayres for the Theatre contains 13 suites of Purcell's instrumental movements arranged, sensitively for the most part , into everyday concert fare; this richly endowed repertoire was thereby wrenched from elite theatrical circles and thrust into the public domain by an enterprising editor. Savall extends the principle of drawing freely from a repository of material for concert use; these suites are very much of his own ma king. Unlike Lamon and Goodman - and to a certain extent Hengelbrock - Savall draws his inspiration from the original scores and not just from Ayres for the Theatre. The seven short movements from Dioclesian are nobly conceived , the "Dance of the Furies" typical of Savall's long-breathed lines and dark, bass-heavy string palette. Whether such a purposeful and imposing dramatic profile distorts the sweet airiness of Purcell's vernacular is more a matter of taste than anything. Savall is never less than colourful and there is much to be said for his admirable musical instinct, which brings moments of glorious shapeliness and elasticity in the substantial Fairy Queen suit e.
This is music that can impress
with just a safe hand on the tiller: here we have some idiosyncratic
characterization but, as so often with Savall , his eloquence shines through
despite lurking peccadilloes. The playing from Le Concert des Nations is
affectionate, though pretty rough-hewn in places. If the disc is not a 'must',
there is no clockwork baroque about Savall , in his effortless antidote to
phlegmatic ordinariness. |
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