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LAWES: Complete Music for Lyra Viol – Richard Boothby, lyra viol – HM

by Audiophile Audition | Apr 1, 2017 | Classical CD Reviews

WILLIAM LAWES: Complete Music for Solo Lyra Viol – Richard Boothby, lyra viol – HM 907625, 59:37 (6/10/16) ****: Elegant “musical recreations” from the Court of Charles I played on the most famous surviving contemporary instrument on loan from Royal College of Music. William Lawes was the principal court composer for Charles I, his official title “musician in ordinary for lutes and voices.” He composed secular masques as well as sacred music for private worship. Viol consorts represented the most popular amateur music of the day, and Lawes brought this form to a new height. Perhaps his greatest innovation was his “broken consort” ensemble, which consisted of a violin, viola da gamba, theorbo and harp, the next generation’s harp consort. The handful of dance suites written for this unique instrumentation are among the greatest achievements of English 17th century music. (A recent recording by New Old Albion on Brilliant Classics gives us a splendid reading of these works.) When the Civil War broke out, Lawes signed on with the Royalists. A brave cavalier, he charged into battle at the rout of Rowton Heath. He took a bullet to the head, and thus ended the career of the court’s finest musical […]

DOWLAND: Lachrimae or Seven Tears – Phantasm – Linn

by Audiophile Audition | Oct 8, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

JOHN DOWLAND: Lachrimae or Seven Tears – Phantasm – Linn multichannel SACD CKD 527, 57:00 (8-12-16) [Distr. by Naxos] *****: Phantasm just keep doing excellent recordings of early music. This new audiophile recording, featuring lutenist Elizabeth Kenny and Phantasm, directed by Laurence Dreyfus, takes listeners on a refreshingly varied Dowland soundscape in which sublime sadness, grief, anger and melancholy is consoled by moments of joy and gladness. Dowland’s exceptional melodies combined with Phantasm’s luxuriantly rich sound really is a match made in heaven. Half in jest, I asked Phantasm why they need a director on a recording by five musicians. Here is Phantasm’s wonderful answer: “Some viol consorts are more democratic groupings, but Laurence Dreyfus founded and has directed Phantasm since they were first formed in 1994 and he’s been called director on each of their 17 or so recordings since then. The idea was first to develop a unified approach to sound and ‘interpretation’ – Dreyfus also works on all editions and manuscript sources when needed as Phantasm make their way through the entire tradition of English viol music along with Bach’s Art of Fugue (and still to come, some French and Italian repertoires), and it shows, we think, […]