United Kingdom Byrd In contrast: Byrd and English Track: Anna Prohaska (soprano), Illusion (Laurence Dreyfus [treble viol/director], Jonathan Manson, Emilia Benjamin [tenor viols], Markku Luolajan-Mikkola [bass viol]). Wigmore Corridor, London, 10.01.2024. (CC)
The Demise of Tallis
Tallis – A Solfing Track; O nata lux de lumine
Byrd – Te lucis ante terminum
Tallis – Why fum’th in battle?
Byrd – Come woeful Orpheus; Fantasia a4 No.1 in D minor; Ye sacred muses
Hints of the erotic
Byrd – Susanna truthful; Thou Amaryllis dance in inexperienced; In fields overseas; In Nomine a4 No.2; La virginella
Gesualdo – Itene, o miei sospiri
Tears and Joys
Dowland – From silent evening; Movement, my tears; Shall I try with phrases to maneuver; My ideas are wing’d with hopes; Sorrow, keep, lead true repentant tears
Devotion and Piety
Byrd – Miserere. Lullaby; Fantasia a3 No.1 in F; O Lord, how useless
Fallen Heroes
Byrd – Honest British Isle; Fantasias a3: No.2 in F, No.3 in C; My mistress had just a little canine
It’s small surprise Anna Prohaska and Patricia Kopatchinskaja joined forces for a superb disc, Maria Mater Meretrix, on the Alpha label (which encompasses composers from Dufay to Crumb). Each are performers of huge repertoire, and each seem equally relaxed in music historic and fashionable. On this event it was Prohaska’s excellence in earlier music that shone and shone brightly.
This Wigmore Corridor efficiency was considered one of a trio by which Illusion presents the whole consort music of William Byrd (c.1540-1623). It started final yr (celebrating the four-hundredth anniversary of Byrd’s demise). Right here, consort songs have been set towards the vocal music of Tallis, Gesualdo and Dowland.
Byrd’s works for voice and viol consort fashioned the centre piece of this night, which was comprised of quite a lot of sections. The primary, ‘The Demise of Tallis’, is obtainable as a mirrored image on the plight of Catholics in Elizabethan England. Tallis’s Solfing Track was heard with Prohaska very a lot as one of many contrapuntal strains (it’s typically heard simply on viols, as within the Rose Consort of Viol’s Naxos disc of Elizabethan Songs and Consort Music).
Clearly, there have been no phrases as such for that piece, however when it got here to O nata lux de lumine (edited by Allen Garvin), every phrase was completely sculpted, counterpoint a delight. Tallis’s Why fum’th in battle was heard in a transcription for voice and viols by Dreyfuss (Vaughan Williams used this for his Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis), stuffed with subtlety and contour and distinguished by Prohaska’s aptitude for storytelling. The Tallis items sandwiched Byrd’s Te lucis ante terminum on 4 viols (edited by Laurence Dreyfuss), its solely fault it felt too brief: one might take heed to this for hours on finish. A bunch of Byrd items rounded off this earliest half: Come, woeful Orpheus (edited Dreyfus), stuffed with outstanding harmonies made all of the extra otherworldly and unusual on viols (they’re much less impactful, say on recorder consort with voice, as within the bFIVE Recorder Consort’s recording). This was a transfixing efficiency. It needs to be famous that Prohaska’s English is ideal and would put many a local singer to disgrace. George Hunter’s version of Byrd’s Fantasia a4 No.1 in D minor was used to create probably the most astonishing dolorous tapestry of 4 completely equal voices earlier than Ye sacred muses (by way of Fretwork Editions) appeared to precise the inexpressible. This can be a tender farewell not solely to Tallis, however a perceived farewell to music itself (‘Tallis is lifeless, and Music dies’), and this efficiency carried the burden of the World on its shoulders.
Opening the ‘Hints of the Erotic’ a part of the programme, and lightening the environment significantly, Byrd’s Susanna truthful is perhaps acquainted to some by way of Illusion’s personal recording on their Byrd track disc on Simax, there with Geraldine McGreevy. Prohaska was superior, past doubt. Heard edited by Ian Gammie, this was a sprightly efficiency, Prohaska’s diction pure and crystal clear, equalled by a light-on-its-feet Thou Amaryllis dance in inexperienced and a superbly rhythmically-sprung In fields overseas (right here edited by Gammie). How excellent, then, to supply distinction with one other piece or viol consort, Byrd’s In Nomine a4 No.2, containing moments of big Innigkeit. It was a plateau of clam, albeit a laden one, in between the characterful In fields overseas and Byrd’s wonderful La virginella. Lastly, some Gesualdo, and a visit to a different world: the completely outstanding harmonies of Itene, o miei sospiri (‘Go now, O my sighs’), its phenomenal chromaticism completely honoured by all involved, Prohaska imbuing the phrases with unbelievable ranges of that means.
Publish-interval, there have been three sections, the primary, ‘Tears and Joys’, an unforgettable Dowland sequence, with all items edited by Dreyfus. Someway, Prohaska appeared much more aligned to this music. Given a few of the melodic sleights of line, it was a stroke of genius to start out with From silent night (organized and edited by Dreyfuss) after the Gesualdo that closed the primary half. The viol part merely added to the appreciation of dissonance; the ultimate stanza of Dowland’s well-known setting of Movement, my tears attaining actual depth (‘Hark! You shadows that in darkness dwell’). Those that know Emma Kirkby’s unforgettable recording of Shall I try with phrases to maneuver will admire that to say Prohaska misplaced out not one jot as compared is reward; certainly, Prohaska and Illusion’s My ideas are wing’d with hopes supplied one other rhythmic distinction. It was left to the world-weary strains of Sorrow, keep to segue into the ultimate ‘Devotion and Piety’ phase. Byrd’s Miserere and Lullaby (edited Dreyfus and Gammie respectively) appeared inextricably linked, Prohaska actually touching within the latter (which additionally included the loveliest ‘dialogue’ between Prohaska and Dreyfus’s treble viol. If the Fantasia a3 No.1 in F supplied an additional distinction, O Lord, how useless are all our frail delights introduced what is perhaps termed radiant disappointment, darkness with gentle behind it.
Finaly, ‘Fallen Heroes’. I ponder if it was wit or political remark to place Honest Britain Isle (‘Well-known for wealth’, go the phrases) as the primary track right here. What was outstanding, although was the flowery cadence heard right here, a very wonderful extension of musical thought. Two contrasting Fantasias a3 – No.2 in F, intense and concentrated, and No.3 in C, extra energetic – led to the ultimate throwaway My mistress had just a little canine, tripping alongside properly till the sudden change of the third stanza, the near-exact midpoint (‘However out, alas! I’ll converse no extra’) earlier than reverting to the preliminary buoyancy.
One encore after this miracle of a live performance: Scarborough Honest, for singer and viols. What extra might one presumably ask? A surprising live performance.
Colin Clarke
The ultimate live performance on this collection is at Wigmore Corridor on June 25, 2024
