With Endless Tears

Johannette Zomer (soprano) & Fred Jacobs (theorbo)

Beautiful miniatures full of English melancholy. Purcell’s famous ‘Music for a while’ crowns a century of extraordinary song writing. Wonderful togetherness of Johannette Zomer and Fred Jacobs.

Johannette Zomer and Fred Jacobs started recording a series of programmes devoted to 17th Century monody for which their research has unveiled many hidden treasures. This recording brings beautiful miniatures, full of English melancholy and humor, including Purcells’s famous ‘Music for a while’. Their previous recordings in this series - ‘Splendore di Roma’, ‘Nuove Musiche’ and ‘l’Esprit Galant’- received great international acclaim.

Gaultier, J:
 Cloches
 Courante
 Volte

Humfrey:
 Cupid once, when weary grown
 How severe is forgetful old age
 O Love, if e’er thou’lt ease a heart
 That I had but a fine man

Johnson, R:
 Almain
 Come hither, you that love
 Come, heavy sleep
 Have you seen the bright lily grow?
 The Prince’s Almain
 With endless tears
 Woods, rocks and mountains

Lanier:
 I wish no more
 No more shall meads be deck’d with flowers
 The Marigold (Mark How the Blushful Morn)

Lawes, H:
 Amarillis, by a spring
 Amintor’s Welladay
 Ariadne’s Lament
 Chloris dead, lamented by Amintor
 Sleep soft, you cold clay cinders

Purcell:
 Farewell, all joys Z368
 If grief has any pow'r to kill, Z378
 Music for a while, Z583
 When first Amintas sued for a kiss, Z430

"De titel 'With Endless Tears' is terecht gekozen, want al is het niet overal kommer en kwel, op vele momenten stromen de tranen rijkelijk. Het hoogtepunt van de CD is Lawes' klaagzang van Ariadne, die door haar geliefde Theseus is verlaten. In deze op een operascene gelijkende monoloog sleept Zomer uiterst beeldend de luisteraar mee in de radeloosheid van deze vrouw. Extra vermelding verdient het subtiele spel van Jacobs, die afwisselend op luit en theorbe begeleidt als soleert."
Klassieke Zaken Magazine

"There's a brightness to the voice which pinpoints open-eyed wonder...That Zomer knows how to float a line and respond to its musical contours is never in doubt"
BBC Music Magazine - June 2010 ***