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Bara Faustus' Dreame / Les Witches

Les Witches Release Date: 03/22/2005
Label: Alpha Productions Catalog #: 63 Spars Code: n/a
Composer:  Anonymous ,  John Dowland ,  Richard Alison ,  Peter Phillips  ...  Performer:  Charles-Edouard Fantin ,  Bruno Boterf ,  Nathalie Marec Orchestra/Ensemble:  Les Witches Number of Discs: 1
Recorded in: Stereo Length: 1 Hours 7 Mins.

As with many other releases from this fine French label, this one has all sorts of pretensions--inspired by Anne Cuneo's novel Le trajet d'une rivière, the performers attempt to "revive in part the musical world of Sir Francis Tregian", exploring "the elements of dream and travel through time and space..."--but what it comes down to is an interestingly packaged, well-performed early music program focusing on secular music from England in the late-16th/early-17th centuries. There are many songs familiar to fans of such repertoire, especially those by Dowland--Come when I call, Can she excuse, If my complaints could passions move, and several others--and William Byrd's Tregian's Ground, Morley's O mistresse mine, Read more and the ubiquitous Go from my window, which here actually appears with words rather than in the instrumental guise we usually hear.


The instruments--viols, recorders, lute, claviorganum, pandora (a kind of plucked bass stringed instrument)--are played with finesse and clarity, the mixtures of timbres are intelligently and effectively chosen, and the French singers are all very finely tuned and well-versed in the style. Even the English pronunciation was carefully researched--and the results are quite interesting and add a colorful dimension to the interpretation of the texts. The sound is first rate. My only complaint here is that three or four of the selections become tedious after six or seven repetitive minutes, but overall this is a classy and well-produced program that will please early music lovers, especially those looking for vibrant, articulate, period-instrument performances. [3/23/2005]
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com Read less