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Ivan Moody, Songs and arias, Early Music, Volume 44, Issue 3, 1 August 2016, Pages 503–504, https://doi.org/10.1093/em/caw052
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A number of intriguing recent releases have concentrated on aspects of early song, presented in the form of multi-composer recitals or collections of music by single authors. English music is central to collections sung by the soprano Elizabeth Hungerford on Love & lust ([no label] issued 2014, 56′) and the tenor Nicholas Phan on A painted tale (Avie av2325, rec 2014, 70′), the former accompanied only by viola da gamba, the latter by gamba and lute. The use of the gamba alone necessarily makes for a certain intimate quality, which both Hungerford and her accompanist, Andrew Arceci, fully exploit, and the selection of songs, a mixture of Italian and English, is highly effectively interspersed with solo gamba pieces by the ever-impressive Tobias Hume. Hungerford’s voice is crystal clear, a perfect counterfoil for the gamba’s smokily rich timbre; she proves herself, in I attempt from love’s sickness to fly to be an outstanding and original interpreter of Purcell, and, in Quel sguardo sdegnosetto, a fine Monteverdian. Phan’s programme is exclusively English, concentrating largely on Purcell and Blow, and is very well constructed; the inclusion of a number of lesser-known songs by Blow is particularly welcome. Enunciation is exemplary, and the quality of the recording such that the listener feels that this is a kind of confessional conversation rather than a recital, thus bringing a remarkable and welcome degree of intimacy to songs such as Purcell’s Sweeter than roses and Evening Hymn, and Dowland’s In darkness let me dwell. Both these collections are very welcome additions to the discography.
