What Then Is Love, An Elizabethan Songbook

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Music reviews of What Then Is Love, An Elizabethan Songbook

Music Review: What then is taste?
Rating: 5 Stars

Musically, this recording is full of little-known gems of the English Renaissance. This is a sample of what's on it, for Kenneth Melia: Sing a song of joy; Eliza is the fairest Queen; What then is love but mourning; Shall I sue; Heigh-ho holiday; I care not for these ladies; Mother, I will have a husband; Rest, sweet nymphs (a beautiful rendition with soaring harmonies on the chorus); and Sing we and chant it. Kenneth, if you still want a more complete list, just e-mail me (mitsuo@uclink4.berkeley.edu). But I insist that if you buy it now, without knowing all the songs, you will not be disappointed. They are subdued and genteel, with that hint of playfulness which one could say characterized the court under Elizabeth I. The vocalists are excellent, never succumbing to the operatic vocal style so popular with renditions of this repertoire, and, I think, the least authentic. Once again, Anne Azema charms with her supple, almost serpentine stylizations, and you also get a wealth of other talented vocalists who speak the Elizabethan tongue with convincing fluency. The instrumentalists play with passion and a feline subtlety that will catch you and never let go.

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