Rating: 5/5
Review:
An excellent disc
I agree with the chorus of praise this disc has received. There is an awful lot of Dowland on disc now and I think this stands with the best of it.
The selection of works is varied and imaginative, with plenty of the Greatest Hits here like Flow, My Tears and Semper Dowland, Semper Dolens, but a good smattering of less familiar works, making it a fine, varied programme of the melancholy and the lively with a good leaven of instrumental pieces among the songs.
The performances are excellent. Iestyn Davies is a very fine countertenor and he brings superb technique and control to these songs. He finds all the dolens in Dowland without ever slipping into sounding like a rather turgid dirge, which can happen in such recitals. Every song is invested with its own character and meaning, and it's exemplary singing, I think. Thomas Dunford's lute playing is just as good; he is delicate and subtle both as accompanist and soloist, and the overall effect is quite excellent.
I have a lot of Dowland, but this is among the best recordings I know. The recorded sound is, as always from Hyperion, excellent and the presentation attractive. This is an excellent disc all round, and I recommend it very warmly.
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