Vaughan Williams New
Merciless Beautya. Two English Folksongsb. Ten Blake Songsc. Along the Fieldd. On Wenlock Edgee.
John Mark Ainsley (tenor); Nash Ensemble (abdeLeo Phillips, aeElizabeth Wexler, violins, eRoger Chase, viola, aePaul Watkins, cello, cGareth Hulse, oboe, eIan Brown, piano).
Hyperion CDA67168 (full price, 1 hour 9 minutes). Texts included. Producer Mark Brown. Engineers Antony Howell, Julian Millard. Date October 25th-27th, 1999.
Comparisons:
Merciless Beauty:
Langridge, Endellion Qt (EMI) CDM7 64730-2
Ten Blake Songs:
Bowman, Goodwin (Meridian) CDE84158
Tear, Black (London) 430-368-2
Along the Field:
Golden, Bean (Koch) 37168-2
On Wenlock Edge:
Elwes, London Qt (excerpts) (Pearl) GEM127
(LP)
Langridge, Shelley, Britten Qt (EMI) CDC7
54346-2
Thompson, Burnside, Delmé Qt
(Hyperion) CDA66385
Wilson, Paul, Marie Wilson Qt (Decca) ACL303 (LP)
As time goes by, it becomes increasingly clear that Vaughan Williams
was a universally great composer, and - like many artists who lived
a long and productive life - there are aspects to his work which
changed, often at a quite deep level, as he did. This well-planned collection
includes music written over a period of almost 50 years, and, if Vaughan
Williams's musical language remained virtually constant, a study of his
art leads one to the irrefutable conclusion that the music of his final
decade should not be performed in the same way as his earlier works. It
is a more profound consideration than mere surface line or harmonic implications,
made more difficult by the remarkable paradox of this last period -
on the one hand, a more expansive and colourful approach to life, and
on the other a more withdrawn, not to say aphoristic, use of gesture.
John Mark Ainsley is a fine singer, intelligent and musical, but his interpretative art seems more consistently suited to the later Vaughan Williams songs than to some of the composer's earlier works. For example, Merciless Beauty, a superbly original masterpiece from 1921, possesses a tenor line carrying within it the entire range of expression of Chaucer's text. Where Ainsley fails here is in projecting the text at the expense of the musical line itself; the result is that the settings come across as being, frankly, lumpy, as the words are inconsistently sung - vowels and syllables being exaggerated for no apparent reason. This may be something to do with the recording, suggesting either that the microphone is placed fractionally too close for comfort, 'catching' the odd note here and there, or that the singer moves his head too much while singing - taking his voice out of consistent microphone range. Whatever the reason, the result is disappointing, for we cannot concentrate throughout on the music. Philip Langridge's EMI account is preferable.
The Two English Folksongs are rather more successful, and the magical Ten Blake Songs for voice and oboe are better - but are at times let down by disappointing recording quality: for example, at 0'43" in 'The Piper', there is a loud studio clunk which ruins the atmosphere and which comes as something of a surprise from this label. The rest of this cycle is very well done, superbly sung by Ainsley, and brilliantly accompanied by Gareth Hulse; choice is difficult between the versions listed above; suffice to say that, despite the shortcomings here, this recording is more than competitive. Along the Field, dating from that curious period in Vaughan Williams's output, the later 1920s and revised much later, was originally performed by soprano and violin, but the text - by Housman, and admittedly ambivalent with regard to its sexuality - is surely better projected by a man. Ainsley is also very good here, and has very little in the way of recorded competition; Ruth Golden, on Koch, while producing beautiful tone, tends to reinforce the case for a masculine voice here.
He faces stiffer opposition in On Wenlock Edge, and, with Gervase Elwes's pioneering recording as a standard, not to mention Steuart Wilson's, we have a direct performance line as references. Ainsley is wise not to allow his performance to become too arch, too Edwardian - attempting to impart spurious authenticity - and his direct yet thoughtful singing, aided by a slightly better balanced recording than in some of the other works, adds greatly to an impressive realization of this incontrovertible masterpiece. Thankfully, he is markedly well accompanied by members of the Nash Ensemble, and the recorded balance is well-nigh ideal.
Choice between this version and the rivals above is also
difficult, but as the programme on this new release is so well chosen, it is
difficult to see why any other modern version should be preferred. The excellent
notes are by Michael Hurd and texts are included. Although one or two aspects of
this could have been improved upon, much of it deserves a warm recommendation.
used by permission
