Fairest Isle [Audio CD] Bonney, Barbara / Various

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Amazon.ca With an early-January release date, it may be a bit early to nominate a record of the year but this has all the makings of a winner. Away from the clamour 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 superb technique--if you want to hear art concealing art, look no further. This is intensely private music, in a programme which cleverly side-steps 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 piece which gives the disc its title is a blithe, dance-like 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 Product description

FEATURES

• • Barbara Bonney - Fairest Isle (2001-12-21)