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Performer’s Perspective
The
countertenor Andrew Radley reminisces
about the making of Sounds Baroque’s
debut disc, Conversazioni
I :
When Julian and I discussed the prospect
of recording this disc I was naturally
very excited. Rome in the late 17th and
early 18th centuries must have been the
most incredible place to be a musician;
a magnet for all those at the top of
their artistic fields whether it was
music, art, sculpture, theatre design or
architecture. Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni
was just one of several influential
patrons of the time, and reading through
a list of composers and musicians who
worked for him is to find a Who's Who
of the musical world at the time.
It is always a pleasure to trawl through
the catalogues of libraries looking for
interesting music, and Julian and I have
spent many a happy hour in the British
Library doing just that. It may be
conjecture that many of the pieces we've
chosen were performed at an Ottoboni conversazione,
but they are certainly representative of
the many shifting stylistic trends in
the composition of cantatas at this
time. Some of the works chosen are
better known than others (both Handel
cantatas have been recorded several
times), but all are testament to the
incredible musical goings-on of those
composers who worked in or passed
through Rome.
Why make a recording? Useful as it is in
terms of projecting one's work and one's
name a little further afield while
making a musical contribution to
posterity, the joy of making this disc
was primarily in getting to spend time
with the music and my fellow musicians.
As an opera singer, the "band" is so
often on the other side of the
footlights; met once or twice at a Sitzprobe
before disappearing into the pit
for stage rehearsals. To be able to see
and hear my friends clearly and for us
to respond to each other without
distance or distraction from wandering
wigs, creaky costumes and cumbersome
sets, was a rare treat. In short we were
able to concentrate entirely on the
music.
Exploring, rehearsing and performing
this programme has been a pleasure from
beginning to end. Listening to the disc
now and hearing the excellent job our
sound engineer, Adrian Hunter, has done
in capturing the special acoustics of
our recording venue, I'm instantly taken
back to the surroundings of Lutyens's
church of St Jude's, Hampstead. I can
clearly see the muted half-light and
feel the somewhat subdued temperature of
those December afternoons and evenings,
and remember the joy of recording some
great music with some great friends.
- Andrew Radley
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Julian
Perkins
Photo: Ben Fisher
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