THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508250068
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Album reviews
SOURCE: BY TERRY JOY, SPECIAL TO THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Purcell, ``Dido and Aeneas,'' Les Arts Florissants and William Christie (Erato) - Three hundred years after Henry Purcell's death, William Christie and the crack early music ensemble Les Arts Florissants produce a fresh and lively interpretation of this opera.
The work is remarkable in its introspection, timelessness and brevity. In less than an hour, it probes the relationship of the ill-fated lovers through Purcell's delectable music, which is precisely molded to the accents, pace and emotions of Nahum Tate's English text.
The singers are superb in conveying the tragedy of Dido, the queen of Carthage, and the Trojan prince Aeneas. The expressive Veronique Gens shines as Dido. Her famous lament is heartfelt, as she uses the gravity of the words to pull the listener into the drama a final time. Nathan Berg's Aeneas is dynamic and secure.
All the remaining singers are intensely involved in this recording. The sorceress and the witches are especially convincing in their ominous plot to thwart the love of Dido and Aeneas, as in the ``Wayward sisters, you that fright'' aria that opens Act II.
Christie maintains a taut, lean performance - a critical task in this brief composition.
J.S. Bach, Mass in B Minor, The Amsterdam Baroque Orhestra & Choir and Ton Koopman (Erato) - Most of the 27 choral and solo selections in this masterpiece were composed at various times in Bach's career and collected into a complete Mass only near the end of his life. Though Bach himself never heard the work in its entirety, he crafted a timeless and universal religious statement using forms from the past such as fugues, dance rhythms and 16th century poly-phony.
Without a doubt, the B Minor Mass demonstrates Bach's compositional prowess, displaying all manner of technique: instrumental obbligatos, vocal counterpoint, duets, arias, choruses and expansive harmony.
At the same time, Bach achieved a fine balance between soloists, chorus and instruments so that no one is upstaged.
It's remarkable what Koopman does with this lofty score. Lines soar and flex. Tempos are comfortable, never rushed, and the music flows effortlessly. Textures are transparent, allowing a variety of colors to emerge.
In the arias and duets, the texts come alive and the phrases breathe. Aside from soprano Barbara Schlick's tentative entrance in the ``Laudamus te'' and tenor Guy de Mey's thin tone in the Agnus Dei, the singing is without parallel.
The chorus is outstanding, only occasionally losing their excellent pronunciation in thicker textures where instruments double the vocal lines. by CNB