It’s heartening to see European ensembles exploring the work of Henry Purcell, Britain’s very own baroque national treasure. This album, by crack French ensemble Le Poème Harmonique and conductor Vincent Dumestre, centres on one of his absolute masterpieces: Hail! Bright Cecilia, a lavish, celebratory ode to the patron saint of music.
Composed in 1692, its spirited text is full of allusions to musical instruments, including the idea that St Cecilia invented the organ. Purcell’s fertile imagination responded with a dazzling array of illustrative arias, duets and choruses full of sprightly violins, cooing flutes and martial kettledrums. With added harp in the continuo and richly characterful woodwind, Dumestre leads one of the most luxuriant accounts on disc, full of felicitous detail and theatrical flair.
British tenor Hugo Hymas is a special pleasure, his light-as-a-feather tone complemented by imaginative word-painting. The rest of the soloists sport perfectly acceptable English accents. Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian’s fruity countertenor coils around Hymas in the sensual In Vain the Am’rous Flute, before rising to the bellicose challenge of The Fife and All the Harmony of War. Vlad Crosman is suitably awestruck at the chugging organ in Wondrous Machine! John Blow’s tuneful Welcome, Every Guest, recorded complete for the first time, is a zesty bonus.
