In the last of the highly successful Proms Camber Music concerts, this beautifully crafted programme employed a technique that Christopher Hogwood and David Munrow once pioneered with the Early Music Consort of London in the 1970s of segueing between each piece without pausing for tuning or applause until the end of a section. Richard Egarr – who was directing from the harpsichord - opened the concert with Purcell's Suite No.1 in G major played with an improvisatory quality as if the music began to flow from his fingers almost as soon as he sat down and similarly when Iestyn Davies stood up to sing 'Tis Nature's Voice from Hail Bright Cecilia it seemed that there was nothing so natural as the transition from one piece to the other.
Davies has a great stage manner that really suits chamber music concerts such as this. His voice is bright, forward and full of personality and he has an even quality throughout his range that really projects the low passages in Purcell's writing. What is also impressive is the range of expression that he can employ without having to sing too loudly, a quality that is particularly beneficial when working with early instruments.
Another stylish segue lead in to Oedipus – A New Ground with the exotic spiraling harmonies brought to life by William Carter (theorbo) and Reiko Ichise (viola da gamba). In the famous Music for a while that followed, Carter switched to baroque guitar introducing a new timbre to the ensemble that he exploited with some funky strumming when Dryden's snakes started to drop. Davies was a really passionate communicator of the poetry and leaned into the dissonant qualities of the song to give a moving performance which although slightly too brisk for my tastes had many levels of interest. There was a return to that reflective, improvisatory quality in the Prelude of Suite No. 6 in D major which followed on from the mood of the song superbly. The coupled sound of the harpsichord later in the suite was lively and vibrant making a skillful transition to the famous Sweeter than roses in which I thoroughly enjoyed the rich theorbo textures accompanying 'what magic has victorious love'.
After a quick chat on-air with Suzy Klein and a chance for tuning the performers regrouped on stage with the addition of Simon Wall (tenor) and Rachel Brown and Rebecca Miles (recorders) for John Blow's Ode on the death of Mr Henry Purell. This is a monumental piece lasting almost twenty-five minutes, which is in itself an indication of the depth of the composer's grief at the loss of his pupil and friend. It's also a difficult piece to perform and constantly begs the question, just what sort of singer was Blow writing for? Performances with two countertenors are rarely satisfying since large swathes of each vocal line lie too low to be adequately projected by most singers so the decision to use a tenor on the second part was welcome and very successful given the size of Cadogan Hall. Both Wall and Davies were well matched and suitably nimble in their fiendish opening phrases. There were some beautifully crafted imitative passages between the two singers and a really excellent solo section from Davies. The concert ended with Purcell's exquisite An Evening Hymn.
This concert of music by (or about) Henry Purcell was introduced by Radio 3's Suzy Klein as being given by 'some of the finest performers of early music' and indeed, judging from this recital her description was most apt.
By Ed Breen
Photo: Iestyn Davies
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