Although subtitled "Music and Carols for a medieval Christmas"
there is nothing in this disc that makes it unsuitable for use
at other times of the year. The repertoire is made of some of
the earliest surviving pieces of polyphonic music, centred around
the great four-voiced ‘Viderunt Omnes’ of Perotin - the first
work of western music for which we know the occasion of composition
(Christmas 1198 at Notre Dame de Paris). Of course this sort
of repertoire, sung by an all-male quartet of countertenor,
2 tenors and a baritone, is always going to draw comparison
with the Hilliard Ensemble, which group has also recorded much
of this repertoire. In general the Orlando Consort stands up
well - their intonation and blend of voices being uniformly
good. Personally this reviewer finds the sound of Robert Harre
Jones rather strained in places (especially in ‘O nobilis nativitas’)
and thus less pleasing on the ear than David James of the Hilliards,
but the tenors blend effectively - most tellingly in some of
the passages of "voice exchange" as in ‘Flos regalis’.
(Sample 1).
In general, the performances are delivered
in a forthright, and somewhat ‘masculine’ style with strong
emphasis on forward momentum. Sometimes this leads to rather
square rhythms and can tend towards making the programme a touch
relentless, but on the other hand, in active pieces of ‘hockett’
(the notes in a melody rapidly alternated between two voices)
such as ‘Huic et placuit’, this format is most effective. (Sample
2). The centrepiece of the disc is Perotin’s ‘Viderunt Omnes’
and this massive work really tests any vocal group. At 10’24"
this version is over a minute shorter than the Hilliard Ensemble’s
recording from 1988 and the rapid tempo comes as something of
a surprise at the outset. The lowest part of this work is a
sustained drone and baritone Donald Grieg is on his own on this
line. Often this part is taken by two singers so that they can
alternate breaths, a feature not possible here. The stamina
is impressive, but perhaps the balance is somewhat top-heavy
as a result. However, the cumulative feel of the long passages
of florid writing, gradually rising in pitch with each new section,
is dramatic and enjoyable. The change of colour that occurs
as each section introduces a new vowel sound adds to the sense
of growth and variety. (Sample 3).
This reviewer has often remarked on un-necessarily
close microphone placement that seems to be fashionable at various
times, and this disc suffers here. The choice to record in a
studio seems odd for this repertoire. The consort sounds like
they are singing in a small room, the sort of space for which
Perotin at least was not intending his music. While this space,
and the close microphone placement, add to the clarity, the
recording looses much atmosphere and allows several intrusive
breaths to be clearly heard. The reverb sounds like it came
out of a packet and does nothing at all to add any "bloom"
to the sound of the group, as would occur with a naturally resonant
acoustic. Given the care that has been put into aspects such
as correct medieval pronunciation, the choice not to use a medieval
acoustic to record seems hard to support.
Peter Wells
The Orlando Consort:
