Purcell: Songs. Music for a while [Import]

This recording has moved me beyond words.

Certainly, Deller's voice has aged but he more than makes up in experience. His voice is still voluptuous, and its languid tones have nothing to envy the voice of a soprano.

While a few of the songs will be listened to with a distracted ear, other won't. For instance "The Plaint", which probably the most stunning song of this recital. The tempo is just right (which is rare for this piece, often overly slowed down), and Deller does not overdramatize the already sad text. "O Solitude" and "An Evening Hymn" (along with the title song) are the other two gems ... "An Evening Hymn" with it's beautiful ostinato, and light singing.

Something must be said for the other performers. While Deller's voice is the heart and soul of this recording, its quality is in no small part due to (younger) William Christie and Wieland Kuijken. I listened recently to Anne Sofie von Otter's renditions of "Music for a while" and "An Evening Hymn", and although her voice is clear, the tempi are wrong and the incompetence of the harpsichordist makes Christie's performance stand out all the more.

If you aren't prejudiced against counter-tenors (and if you haven't yet entered the Visse/Deller or Jacobs/Deller polemic-which I will *NOT* get sucked into), you will find be entranced by this recording.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the previous review. Is is just astonishing that the mediocre Visse can even be compared to the great Deller. It is not that he himself was responsible for the turn of the tide on these "head voices" along the past XX century. It is not that Britten appreciated his art and created the role of Puck for him in A Midsummer's Night Dream. It is not that Dominique Visse's tessitura lies higher than Deller's. It is not that we are short of countertenors at this age (my personal favorite is David Daniels). But take the time to listen to this timbre, intonation, expresiveness and perfect phrasing in O solitude and judge for yourself. Hope to have done the right thing to put Deller where it belongs.

My twin sister got this record as a present when she was 14, maybe a bit too early. But it remained a great memory and 30 years after, I bought it for me : it is even more beautiful than I remembered. It is not only great classical music, it's also that there is something moving in the voice and in the lyrics. Just what you can appreciate when you also like pop songs.