Desandre

With Songs of Passion, a collection of vocal and instrumental music by John Dowland and Henry Purcell – English composers born nearly a century apart – mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre, lutenist Thomas Dunford and Ensemble Jupiter have created a companion to their previous Erato albums, Eternal Heaven, Idylle and Amazone. Making guest appearances on Songs of Passion are four further singers of the rising generation: baritone (and Erato artist) Huw Montague Rendall, contralto Jess Dandy, tenor Laurence Kilsby and bass Alex Rosen. Dowland is known for his intimate evocations of amorous melancholy in his writing for voice and for lute, while the music of Purcell – the greatest British-born composer of the Baroque era – encompasses a rich diversity of moods and emotions. To the fore on Songs of Passion are two of Purcell’s works for the stage: The Fairy Queen and Dido and Aeneas. Dido’s famous lament, ‘When I am laid in earth’, forms the climax of the album.

Handel was in his twenties when he travelled throughout Italy, producing some of the Baroque era’s most exciting, colourful music for his patrons. These cantatas—effectively mini-operas with one or two characters and performed in aristocratic homes—were only recently rediscovered, having remained unpublished for 300 years. They’re vintage Handel: Aminta e Fillide, telling of a shepherd’s love for a shepherdess, features some of his most skilful vocal writing, deftly and gracefully performed by Sabine Devieilhe and Lea Desandre. The star attraction, Armida abbandonata, explores the gamut of Handel’s genius and deserves a place among his greatest operas. Le Concert d’Astrée are in blistering form.