Beauteous Softness

by Tim Mead

Overview

There are certainly more powerful countertenors on the scene than Tim Mead, yet this release landed on classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2023. The appeal is not hard to see: countertenors who seek to emulate the power of the operatic castrati often fail to serve smaller-scale 17th century English music well, but Mead offers a different approach, marked by restraint and dramatic persuasiveness. The songs of Henry Purcell contain some of his best music, but they are comparatively little recorded. Here Mead, with a variety of freestanding songs and theatrical music of various kinds, is lyrical and poetic. His diction is impeccable, and what one hears in his rendering of the texts is not conventional pastoral imagery but a singer who means what he sings. Sample O let me weep, from The Fairy Queen, or one of the songs about sleep, where Mead's delivery is quite affecting. The program is not restricted to Purcell, and another draw here is the music by other Restoration-era composers like Pelham Humfrey, who is even less well-exposed than Purcell. The historical instrument group La Nuova Musica under David Bates gets exactly the low-key note needed to bring out Mead at his best, and PentaTone's church sound, if not atmospherically appropriate, is at least clear. This is a Baroque countertenor release where the artist meets repertory especially successfully. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	03/24/2023
Label:	PENTATONE
UPC:	8717306260473

Tracks

1. If music be the food of love, Z. 379a
2. Lovely Selina
3. The Yorkshire feast song, 'Of old, when heroes thought it base'), Z. 333~The pale and purple rose
4. A Hymn to God the Father ('Wilt Thou forgive that sin')
5. Venus and Adonis~Overture
6. In the black dismal dungeon of despair, Z. 190
7. Fly, bold rebellion, Welcome song for Charles II, 1683, Z. 324~Be welcome then, great Sir
8. Powerful Morpheus
9. Arise, my muse, Birthday ode for Queen Mary, 1690, Z. 320~Arise, my muse
10. The Yorkshire feast song, `Of old, when heroes thought it base', Z. 333~So when the glitt'ring Queen of Night
11. An ode on the death of Mr Henry Purcell~So ceas'd the rival crew when Purcell came
12. Te Deum and Jubilate, Z. 232~Vouchsafe, O Lord
13. King Arthur~Chaconne ¿ First Music
14. The Plaint from The Fairy Queen, Z. 629: O let me weep
15. Now does the glorious day appear, Z. 332, Ode for Queen Mary's birthday, 1689~By beauteous softness
16. Poor Celadon, he sighs in vain (Loving above himself)
17. Celebrate this festival, Z. 321, Ode for Queen Mary's birthday, 1693~Crown the altar
18. Sleep, downy sleep, come close mine eyes (Anthem for the evening)
19. Evening hymn ('Now that the sun hath veiled his light'), Z. 193

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Tim Mead   Primary Artist,Counter Tenor (Vocal)
La Nuova Musica   Ensemble
David Bates   Organ

Technical Credits

Kasper van Kooten   Product Manager,Design
David Bates   Executive Producer,Artistic Director
John Blow   Composer
Benjamin Ealovega   Photography
William Webb   Composer
Henry Heveningham   Text
James Halliday   Text Preparation
Nahum Tate   Text
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood   Recording Producer
Sean Hickey   Managing Director
Andy Staples   Photography
Pelham Humfrey   Composer
John Dryden   Text
Thomas d'Urfey   Text
David Hinitt   Mixing,Engineer,Mastering
Thomas Shadwell   Text
Tim Mead   Liner Notes
William Fuller   Text
Renaud Loranger   A&R
Michael Burden   Liner Notes
Kate Rockett   Executive Producer
Silvia Pietrosanti   Marketing
Marjolein Coenrady   Cover Design
Nathaniel Lee   Text
John Donne   Text
Henry Purcell   Composer