Cantata: Le depit genereux - Monteclair
Suite in C minor - de Visee
Ombre de mon amour - Lambert
Suite in C - Marais
Cantata: Pan et Syrinx - Monteclair
The music of the French Court, from the years around 1700, is an acquired taste. Those nymphs and shepherds bewailing their woes, or decorous, well-balanced instrumental interludes that suggest deep emotions but never trespass beyond the bounds of aristocratic propriety, do not instantly appeal. Once acquired, however, the taste is an enrichment of experience. How better to acquire it than by listening to the talented ensemble that came together at the Hugh Lane Gallery on Sunday?
Julia Gooding (soprano) sang as naturally as a bird, devoid of strain and allowing the melody to flow along its course without hindrance. The quality of her voice blended perfectly with that of the instruments. Elizabeth Kenny (archlute) and Reiko Ichise (viola da gamba) were as expressive in an almost vocal manner, and Eleanor Dawson (baroque flute) added just the right amount of sparkle to the texture.
The suite by de Visee, for lute solo, free of the artificialities of the favoured texts, spoke most directly; the suite by Marais from Pieces de Violes III, played on gamba and lute, more complex though it was, never lost a sense of spontaneity, and the gamba sighed with human but refined intensity.
Monteclair's Cantata: Pan et Syrinx, about the god who "pursued a maiden and clasped a reed", made good use of the pictorial capabilities of the instruments.
