Barbara Bonney - Fairest Isle

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Away from the clamor of grand opera and soaring symphonies, Fairest Isle takes us into the quiet, intimate world of English Elizabethan song, and you could hope for no better guide than Barbara Bonney. Her clear, beautifully rounded voice is superbly controlled, making light of a masterful technique; if you want to hear art concealing art, look no further. This is intensely private music, in a program that cleverly sidesteps any risk of listener fatigue by starting with lute accompaniment (infinitely tender playing by Jacob Heringman), moving on to a viol quartet, then finally to the richer sound of the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood. Leavening the mix are three instrumental interludes. The title piece is a blithe, dancelike song. Better known are some of the classics of English song: Dowland's "Come again" and "Flow, my tears," Morley's "It was a lover and his lass," and Purcell's "If music be the food of love" and "When I am laid in earth," a heart-in-mouth performance that makes time stand still. --Keith Clarke

Tracks:

Complete Odes And Welcome Songs Vol. 5: Welcome, Welcome Glorious Morn. Symphony And Opening Chorus
Complete Odes And Welcome Songs Vol. 3: Be Welcome Then, Great Sir
Complete Secular Solo Songs Vol.1: Oh, Fair Cedaria
The Choir Of The King's Consort: Hear My Prayer, O Lord
Great Baroque Arias: When I Am Laid In Earth ('Dido's Lament')
Complete Anthems And Services Vol.1: Let Mine Eyes Run Down With Tears (Part 1)
Complete Odes And Welcome Songs Vol.4: The Sparrow And The Gentle Dove
Complete Secular Solo Songs Vol.1: If Music Be The Food Of Love (First Setting)
Complete Anthems And Services Vol.5: Rejoice In The Lord Always ('The Bell Anthem')
Complete Anthems And Services Vol.3: Hosanna To The Highest
Complete Anthems And Services Vol.7: Thou Knowest, Lord, The Secrets Of Our Hearts
Mr. Henry Purcell's Most Admirable Composures: Fairest Isle, All Isles Excelling
Complete Odes And Welcome Songs Vol.6: Mark, How Readily Each Pliant String
Complete Odes And Welcome Songs Vol.8: Sound The Trumpet
Complete Secular Solo Songs Vol.3: She Loves And She Confesses Too
Complete Odes And Welcome Songs Vol.8: O How Blest Is The Isle
Complete Anthems And Services Vol.3: Remember Not, Lord, Our Offences
Complete Anthems And Services Vol. 11: An Evening Hymn
Complete Church Music Vol.2: Vouchsafe, O Lord, To Keep Us This Day
Complete Odes And Welcome Songs Vol.2: With Rapture Of Delight... Hail Bright Cecilia

Amazon.com essential recording

The "Essential" Purcell? Well, you could get a bunch of critics to argue about that for a few days, but in the meantime, here is a sampler of highlights from the King's Consort's three admirable Purcell series: the Complete Odes and Welcome Songs, Complete Anthems and Services, and Complete Secular Solo Songs. There are, of course, some of Purcell's most-performed pieces (which probably are "essential"): Dido's Lament from Dido and Aeneas, "Sound the trumpet" from Come, ye sons of Art, Rejoice in the Lord alway (the "Bell Anthem," named for the string figure at the opening that sounds like pealing bells), the gently patriotic "Fairest isle, all isles excelling" (sung by a miscast James Bowman), and a selection from the funeral music for Queen Mary. There are also some delightful surprises--particularly among the little-known secular songs and church music. The plaintive "O fair Cedaria" gets a lovely performance by Barbara Bonney (a singer not usually associated with Purcell); tenor Rogers Covey-Crump (possibly the ideal high tenor for Purcell) sings the enchanting "If music be the food of love"; the church anthems "Let mine eyes run down with tears" and "Remember not, O Lord, our offences" have some startling harmonies as daring as any Monteverdi ever wrote. If you're unfamiliar with Purcell, this reasonably priced disc is a good place to start exploring without a big initial investment. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews:

Mad about Baroque.......2007-02-12

This is a terrific CD. The music is breathtaking. Just buy IT !!!!!

The beauty of the songs brings tears to my eyes.......2002-08-21

Absolutely beautiful baroque music! The arrangament, singing and instrumentation is superb. It is too bad that Henry Purcell is not as widely known as Bach, because he should be recognized equally well."The Sparrow and the Gentle dove" is alone worth the price of the album! I can not stop playing it!

Brilliant.......2001-10-31

Like in his renditions of Handel's oratorios, Robert King manages to bring a freshness and strenght to Purcell's music that I had seldom heard before. This CD also features some of the best performers of early music in the world. My favourite tracks are Oh, Fair Cedaria, sung by the multi-talented Barbara Bonney; Dido's Lament from Dido and Aeneas, sung by Gillian Fisher; She Loves and she Confesses too, sung by the wonderful Susan Gritton; and Welcome, Welcome Glorious Morn, sung by Rogers Covey-Crump. The only track I didn't find absolutely wonderful is Fairest Isle, sung here by James Bowman. Don't get me wrong, I generally love Mr Bowman, I think that his performance in Mr Purcell's Most Admirable Composures (also conducted by Robert King) makes it another essential Purcell recording; but I find that Fairest Isle was much better done elsewhere, particularly by Christopher Hogwood and Barbara Bonney.

These songs aren't only beautiful, they're also poignant, sweet and unpretentious. I think that it will be very clear to anyone who listens to this recording that Mr Purcell was one of the finest composers that ever lived.

Be Welcome then, great Sirs (and Mesdames)........2001-10-20

If anyone has benefitted from the reversion in the last three or so decades to period instruments and historical reconstruction, it is Henry Purcell. Before, he was merely great, the peerless word-setter in the English language, a virtuoso of boundless range, a professional composer whose offical commissions were always imbued with personality and invention. But period instrumentation has added to this a greater depth, an other-worldly texture of sound. With his intricate, multi-part vocal writing, his preference for low, rumbling instruments such as the bass viol and the strange and remarkable theorbo, as well as his often sombre and low-key subject matter and treatment, Purcell creates a round, glowing, humming sound as pregnantly full as dub reggae.

This has an extraordinary effect on the listener. Whereas Bach, with his mathematical abstractions, sounds universal and timeless, Purcell's music takes the listener back 300 years, back to different ways of thinking about, feeling about and addressing things we still think etc. about today - death, love, friendship. The emotion is timeless, but the music's beauty is alien, THEIRS, hence its preciousness.

A lot of intelligence has gone into the unity of this compilation, beginning with two Welcomes (to the dawn and to the listener, in this case a King), and ending with thoughts of evening, death and a Baroque 'Thank you for the music'. These are bright, fanfare-like works, but the predominant mood is slow, ruminative, quiet. The selection covers the wide range of Purcell's oeuvre, from opera and funeral marches to secular songs and odes, and includes his most famous vocal works - Dido's Lament from Dido and Aeneas, sung by Gillian Fisher, and never more evocative of pagan loss and death; the massive 'Bell Anthem', with its ingenious opening symphony and joyful antiphon; and a miraculously serene 'Evening Hymn', Dido's opposite, death indicating hope, the treble voice swirling over the heavy ground bass like the soul released from the inert body.

it might seem quixotic to choose highlights from an exemplary collection of highlights, but the entry of the strings washing over the serene repetition of 'Be Welcome then, great Sir' always makes my heart stop still, while the musical picture of 'Bold Honour', the 'noisy Nothing, stalking shade', blocking the poet's amorous intentions in 'She loves and confesses too', adds a chilling hint of life's transience to a bouyantly bawdy song.

Brilliant Purcell Disc .......2000-11-30

With this album director and Purcell expert Robert King provides the listener with an excellent introduction to the composer's vocal works. The pieces presented here were taken from Mr. King's recordings of 'The Complete Odes and Welcome Songs', 'The Complete Anthems and Services', 'The Complete Secular Solo Songs' and diverse anthology discs. King, his wonderful soloists and musicians do the brilliance of Purcell's music fully justice. Whether he was commissioned by royalty, the church or theatre, Purcell shone in all areas. This disc certainly demonstrates the variety and originality of his craft, not to speak of his uncanny ability of setting words to music.

An outstanding Purcell offering. With a beautiful perfomance by Barbara Bonney of 'Oh, fair Cedaria'. Susan Gritton is equally captivating in 'She loves and she confesses too'. Gillian Fisher's rendition of the famous 'Dido's Lament' is haunting and poignant. Further an intelligent and brilliant 'Hosanna to the highest' by Michael George. James Bowman and Michael Chance sparkle in the countertenor duet 'Sound the trumpet' (from 'Come Ye sons of Art away'). And I should not forget to mention the joyous, luminous performance of the beautiful 'Bell Anthem'. To name but a few favourites, only James Bowman's 'Fairest Isle' was a disappointment.

Those who are familiar with Purcell's music will get an excellent disc with some of his most beloved works. If you are new to Purcell, this is, as already said a great introduction. Which might be the incentive to further explorations of Purcell.

by stardustraven

Average customer rating:

Fairest voice for Fairest Isle
Exquisite taste
Miraculous
Splendid Music from a Splendid Singer
Crystalline delight!

Barbara Bonney - Fairest Isle
Barbara Bonney , Christopher Hogwood , and The Academy of Ancient Music
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000055XGE
Release Date: 2001-03-13

Tracks:

Come Again: Sweet Love Doth Now Invite
If My Complaints Could Passions Move
Away With These Self-loving Lads
Flow My Tears
Never Weather-beaten Saile
The Sypres Curten Of The Night
It Was A Lover And His Lasse
O Lord, How Vain Are All Frail Delights
Fantasy No.9
Though Amaryllis Dance In Green
If Music Be The Food Of Love
Abdelazer: Air
Abdelazer: Air
The Plaint: O, Let Me Weep
Fairest Isle
She Loves And She Confesses Too
They Hand, Belinda...When I Am Laid In Earth

Amazon.com

Away from the clamor of grand opera and soaring symphonies, Fairest Isle takes us into the quiet, intimate world of English Elizabethan song, and you could hope for no better guide than Barbara Bonney. Her clear, beautifully rounded voice is superbly controlled, making light of a masterful technique; if you want to hear art concealing art, look no further. This is intensely private music, in a program that cleverly sidesteps any risk of listener fatigue by starting with lute accompaniment (infinitely tender playing by Jacob Heringman), moving on to a viol quartet, then finally to the richer sound of the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood. Leavening the mix are three instrumental interludes. The title piece is a blithe, dancelike song. Better known are some of the classics of English song: Dowland's "Come again" and "Flow, my tears," Morley's "It was a lover and his lass," and Purcell's "If music be the food of love" and "When I am laid in earth," a heart-in-mouth performance that makes time stand still. --Keith Clarke

Customer Reviews:

Fairest voice for Fairest Isle.......2006-07-27

I adore Purcell's songs, and possess many fine recordings of them. I perform them myself and enjoy the experience each and every time. When I listen to a new recording of Purcell songs, then, my expectations are both high and informed.

Barbara Bonney is simply a delight. Her voice on this album is almost incandescent with beauty. She sings with elegant simplicity that contains a great deal of art (the hardest sort of simplicity in the world to convey!). Her tone is pure, limpid as a stream, as delicately and beautifully wielded as a prism irradiating a cavern with colour.

Her vocal colour needs no introduction. Ms Bonney is widely known as "The Radiant Voice", following on from one of her album titles - and it's extremely apposite. She is radiant indeed, and her technique is beautifully sure.

Only in one track was I disappointed - the last track on the CD. "Thy hand, Belinda" seemed to me to have been approached with a more consciously dramatic style in mind, and it results in a couple of vowel distortions and a not quite convincing performance. Yet the voice itself is consistently beautiful, and I have no hesitation in giving this a 5-star rating.

Beautiful. Listen to this while you're stuck in traffic, and you are certain to feel your tension melt away at the sheer loveliness of the singing...

Exquisite taste.......2006-01-02

Barbara Bonney is one of today's most underrated singers. Her voice is always clear, true, and thrilling. She is certainly capable of vocal fireworks, yet she has the artistry and respect for musical period to know when such displays are, and are not, appropriate. In "Fairest Isle", she demonstrates her hallmark excellent taste in approach and choice of material. Too often, these lovely, gentle songs are assigned as exercises for beginning singers, and are then quickly relegated to the dust bin when the singers turn professional and are only interested in the biggest, flashiest operatic parts they can find. Ms. Bonney doesn't fall in that trap. She certainly is capable of bright vocal fire, yet she is artist enough to know gentle understatement can resonate emotionally with the listener long after the flash has faded.I must also say something about Ms. Bonney's beautifully clear diction. Her English is always understandable and perfectly presented, as opposed to Renee Fleming's, which seems to get muddier and more mannered with each successive recording. "Fairest Isle" is highly recommended!

Miraculous.......2004-10-28

I have had this CD for about 3 years, and it instantly became one of my most treasured. I never tire of listening to it.

I am now listening to it yet again, and am constantly astounded at the utter beauty, refined simplicity, and just perfect taste of Bonney's voice.
Her diction, her natural way of singing and letting the emotions melt in her mouth, her articulation always brilliant, round, glowing, 3-dimensional, her timing and instinct perfect.

And the songs... a wonderful collection of love, philosophical, and devotional pieces. All beautiful and universal.

The instrumental accompaniments are graceful, colorful (each in their own hue), and a dignified match for Bonney's musical stature.

I particularly liked "Come Again", "Never Weather-beaten Saile", "Fairest Isle", Dido's lament, and "She loves me and she confesses too". But all tracks are very good.

I own a large collection of "classical" (I hate that word) and early music, as well as opera, lied, vocal, etc.
I am very particular about what I listen to.
This CD is still one of my most cherished... intimate and very refined.

You could say that Keats was right when he wrote "Truth is beauty, beauty truth..."
Bonney's rendition of these songs is beautiful because it is honest and true... and vice-versa.

ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED.

Splendid Music from a Splendid Singer.......2004-01-28

Like most classical music junkies I have my share of "early music" from the 15th and 16th centuries. When I saw that Hogwood and his terrific band from the Academy of Ancient Music were coming out with an Elizabethan selection I expected something interesting, a little exotic and a good listen. (Purcell fans will know what I'm getting at.) Wrong. What struck me is how completely accessible these songs are. All were composed and published and should not be considered "folk" music in a formal sense I suppose. But as performed by the extremely talented Ms. Bonney, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was listening to early Joan Baez singing something like "Tender Maidens." These songs aren't interesting - they're beautiful. This is a terrific alblum.

Crystalline delight!.......2003-08-16

Barbara Bonney has a voice of exquisite beauty. These lovely Elizabethan love songs fit her instrument to the tee! It is too bad that another listener had to give this CD only one star because he considers these 16th century art songs to be "long hair". They were and are nothing of the sort, they are merely very "old fashioned love songs". "Come Again Sweet Love..." is a wonderful sample of this music. I could listen to it day and night.

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