Ricercar Consort

There’s no way around it. Arianna Savall sounds exactly like a young Emma Kirkby, and if you like that straight-toned, sharply focused soprano quality, with just the bare hint of a vibrato at the very ends of phrases, then you’ll find Savall very satisfying and you’ll easily appreciate her superb interpretations of these rarely heard vocal works from 17th-century Italy. She begins with a magnificent cantata by Marco Marazzoli that sets the tone for the whole program–a “moral canzona” that focuses on the “literary theme of the rose”–and her vocal prowess is evident in her ability to lend enough dramatic force to the work to keep us interested for its entire 13 minutes. She lends a particularly warm and ingratiating quality to the beautifully wrought final minutes of the same composer’s “moral cantata” O mortal, whose text refers to the fate of the Biblical Samson, and repeatedly urges, “Do you desire even greater glories? Then learn how to conquer yourself.”

The Ricercar Consort is a Belgian instrumental ensemble founded in 1980 together with the Ricercar record label of Jérôme Lejeune.
The founding members were violinist François Fernandez, organist Bernard Foccroulle, and viola da gamba player fr:Philippe Pierlot. The initial repertoire was focussed on the German Baroque, and the Consort was closely identified with the series Deutsche Barock Kantaten. In recordings and concerts the Consort was joined by baroque specialist singers including; Greta de Reyghere, Agnès Mellon, countertenors Henri Ledroit, James Bowman tenor Guy de Mey and bass Max van Egmond, as well as the cornett player Jean Tubéry.

Bertali’s life seems to embody the typical experiences that top-notch musician would expect during the seventeenth century: his playing and composing centered around court life. Bertali served under the Habsburgs of Austria. The program notes point out that, although he was mainly a composer of oratorio and opera, his instrumental works still merit attention. This point is made best by giving this disc a thorough hearing. The sonatas which make up the majority of the repertoire here are delightful miniatures. Highly sectional and often inspired by dance rhythms, these pieces sometimes feel like dance suites.

From the beginning of time songs of mourning, sorrow and lamentation have been a part of Western music. Aristotle had written that nothing was more powerful than rhythm and song for imitating all the turmoil of the soul. Composers of the Baroque Period strove to deal with nothingness and eternity by exploring the utter depths of the heart. And this is what these songs are all about.

There is no shortage of performances of the two Bach cantatas on this release by the Ricercar Consort and the Collegium Vocale Gent, under the direction of gambist Philippe Perlot. They are two of the most imposing among Bach's examples of the form, with two large sections, a variety of movement types and elaborate orchestration, and Bach strove to impress with both. Good readings are available in cycles by conductors John Eliot Gardiner, Masaaki Suzuki, and others, but there's a lot to be said for Perlot's approach, which has been developed over a deliberate set of recordings of cantatas that have something to say to each other.

Spanish countertenor Carlos Mena is not one of those who evoke the powerful castrati who might have sung these sacred arias in Vivaldi's day; his voice is smooth and precise, with a tendency toward emotional restraint. This isn't blood-and-guts Vivaldi, but it's quite lovely. Even the final Nisi dominus, RV 608, with its virtuoso arias and sharp contrasts, is kept under control at all times rather than being treated as a set of operatic numbers. Mena is technically flawless in this work (listen to the rather chilling long notes in the "Cum dederit dilectis," track 22), which stands somewhat apart from the rest of the program – the intent is to close the proceedings with a burst of energy after two sad pieces that offer refined tragedy in Mena's readings.