THE major recital of the weekend's Dublin International Handel Fest was given at Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday evening.
Counter tenor James Bowman sang Italian cantatas by Handel and Antonio Caldara (1670-1736). His continuo partners, harpsichordist Malcolm Proud and cellist David Watkin, also played solo items by 17th century composers - harpsichord pieces by JeanHenri d'Anglebert and Louis Couperin, and a ricercar for solo, cello by Domenico Gabrielli.
Christ Church is a rather large venue for music of the intimacy that was on offer. The sound of the three musicians tended to disperse rather than focus and a certain sense of remoteness from the lovelorn settings by Caldara and Handel was compounded by the failure of the promoters to print texts and translations Thor these little known cantatas.
Bowman, at 55, is one of the best known of counter tenors, still individual in manner though not quite as consistent or rich in timbre as in his prime. On Saturday, he took, some time to settle down but, with the upsets of Handel's Dolce pur d'amor l'affanno behind him, his delivery firmed in the second half for Caldara's Soffri mio caro Alcino and, especially, Handel's Vedendo amor, the most satisfyingly dramatic offering of the evening.
Of the solo items in a programme which favoured pieces in melancholy minor mode, it was Louis Couperin's sombre Pavane in F sharp minor which made the strongest impression in an authoritative performance by Malcolm Proud.
