Ferveur & Extase. d'Oustrac/Amarillis

The title of this CD promises well. With the fine mezzo voice of Stéphanie d'Oustrac, the experienced and stylish Amarillis early-music ensemble, and a wealth of suitable Italian early- and mid-baroque music to choose from, what could possibly go wrong? Unfortunately quite a lot. The booklet notes make a big fuss about the baroque dichotomy between sacred and profane love, but in reality only two of the 23 items are sacred (or possibly three if you count Cavalli's canzona) and the rest are secular. What is more, the whole programme is poorly organised and in places frankly rather dull. For example, recitatives, whether in opera, cantata or oratorio, normally serve the function of preparing the ground for a significant aria or chorus. Here, however, some of them - impassioned though they may sound - lead into nothing at all except to the next, entirely unrelated, item, and so we are left hanging in the air wondering what all the fuss was about. For instance many of Cavalli's other laments, in aria form, are far more memorable than the recitative from 'La Didone' chosen here; and after its five minutes we move on to an entirely different instrumental item from Luigi Rossi. This is followed by a sequence of disjointed and not very well-chosen items by Alessandro Scarlatti - whose music I generally love, but not here.

In fact we have to wait until track 19 (out of 23) for the first really compelling item on the disc, Barbara Strozzi's rare and glorious 'O Maria'; it's beautifully sung and accompanied here, and for me at least it's the only work in the programme that really takes off and lives up to the CD's title. Among the remaining items, Monteverdi's 'Pianto della Madonna' is respectably done. But then there's an odd and irrational intruder at the end in the form of Purcell's 'Dido's Lament' - surely some mistake here, in this (according to the booklet) 'exclusively Italian programme'? Perhaps that phrase was an unfortunate mistranslation from the French original? - mais non, after exhaustive research into all possible meanings of the phrase 'programme exclusivement italien' I can definitely state that the translation is spot-on - which is hardly surprising considering the translator was Charles Johnston, as good as any in the business. Still, at least Enrico Purcelli's lament, although entirely out of place in this recital, is decently performed.

Altogether, then, this was a potentially interesting project that has been poorly thought out in practice. In spite of Stéphanie d'Oustrac's lovely voice and the efforts, able but somewhat subdued at times, of the instrumental ensemble, it seems to me that this programme just doesn't work. As baroque recitals go, it's unsatisfying and really pretty dull. As for the booklet, the texts, translations and documentation are all fine but the notes, harping on about ecstasy and fervour, are somewhat overblown in the light of the disc's actual content; and there are good photos of the performers which will certainly please enthusiasts of earring design. For alternatives to the present selection, because of the nature of such themed early-music recitals you're unlikely to find any other close matches to this chosen repertoire. But instead, for really beautiful examples from this period of Italian music, you could try any of the available CDs of Barbara Strozzi's works, such as Strozzi: Virtuosissima Compositrice; discs from Christina Pluhar's L'Arpeggiata ensemble such as Via Crucis; or the irresistibly melodious Domenico Belli: Il nuovo stile. Any of these, I believe, will offer a far more satisfying experience than the present disc.

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