LE DOLCE SIRENE ● Bach Aria Soloists ● REFERENCE RECORDINGS 750 (51:37) 

MONTEVERDI Si dolce è’l tormento, SV332. HANDEL Messiah: Rejoice Greatly. Süsse Stille, HWV205. MENDELSSOHN Sonata No. 4 for Organ, op. 65/4: Allegro con brio. BACH Die Schätzbarkeit der Weiten Erden, BWV204: Movement IV. Sonata in G for Violin and Continuo, BWV1021. MCDOWALL Four Shakespeare Songs. ANON/BACH ARIA SOLOISTS La Follia Variations (Improvisation)

Le Dolce Sirene presents the artistry of the Bach Aria Soloists (BAS)—Elizabeth Suh Lane (violin/Artistic Director/founder), Sarah Tannehill Anderson (soprano), Elisa Williams Bickers (harpsichord, organ, piano), and Hannah Collins (cello). Based in Kansas City, MO, the BAS performs concerts “presenting the genius and relevance of Johann Sebastian Bach, his contemporaries, and those he inspired…The ensemble’s repertoire is adventurous and broad, including chamber music from Renaissance to Contemporary, vocal arias, Tango and new living composer commissions.” In Le Dolce Sirene, BAS explores vocal and instrumental music ranging from Monteverdi to the 21st century English composer Cecilia McDowall. The emphasis is on Baroque repertoire, performed with such HIP elements as minimal vibrato, and ornamentation in repeated sections. Within that foundation, the BAS offers music-making of striking beauty, energy, and an infectious enthusiasm for the works at hand. Soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson is a constant source of pleasure. Her crystalline tone, impeccable pitch, supple and expressive phrasing, and sparkling coloratura are all exemplary. Anderson’s instrumentalist colleagues are equally impressive, performing with a verve that avoids any semblance of routine. The concluding work on the disc, the ensemble’s improvised Variations on the melody La Folia, wed virtuoso playing to a delectable ebb and flow that builds inexorably to a bracing close.

BAS demonstrates their versatility in the remaining works. Elisa Williams Bickers performs the opening movement of Mendelssohn’s Organ Sonata, op. 65/4, with an ideal fusion of Bachian structure and Romantic drive. Cecilia McDowall composed her Four Shakespeare Songs for voice and piano. This recording features BAS’s arrangement for their ensemble: I. What ‘tis love? (As You Like It, Act V, sc. ii) (sop, hpd, vn), II. Give Me My Robe (Antony and Cleopatra, Act V, sc. ii) (sop, pn, vc), III. How should I your true love know? (Hamlet, Act IV, sc. v) (sop, pn, vn), IV. First Rehearse (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, sc. i) (sop, hpd, vn). McDowell’s music occupies a contemporary harmonic idiom that is both lyrical and highly expressive. The writing for the soprano is often quite demanding, and once again, Anderson is most impressive (and for this modern work, she makes far greater use of vibrato).

As is typical of Reference Recordings, the production values are first-rate. The recorded sound is excellent, as are Steven Ledbetter’s program notes. Full texts and translations are provided for the sung repertoire. A program that embodies the joy of music making, from start to finish. Recommended with the utmost enthusiasm.

Ken Meltzer

Fanfare Magazine