Victorious Love

Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Laurence Cummings (harpsichord & spinet), Elizabeth Kenny (archlute / theorbo), Anne-Marie Lasla (bass viol), Sarah Sexton (violin I), Andrea Morris (violin II) & Jane Rogers (viola)

Carolyn Sampson, reeds bejubeld voor haar vorige opnamen met BIS (Classica-Répertoire schreef over haar vertolking op de BIS SACD-1471 dat zij een stem heeft als een engel, licht en toch aanwezig, en zingt met opmerkelijk gemak en zeer muzikale interpretatie), en haar collega's namen voor deze compilatie de muziekmakende praktijk van die tijd op de korrel: in die tijd zongen en speelden muziekliefhebbers wat zij mooi vonden, ongeacht de instrumentale bezetting. En zo stelden zij een zeer kleurrijk en gevarieerd programma samen uit twee van Purcells liederenbundels, wat de begeleiding van de liederen betrof.

Purcell:
 An Evening Hymn 'Now that the sun hath veiled his light', Z193
 Fairest Isle (from King Arthur)
 From silent shades ('Bess of Bedlam') Z370
 I attempt from love's sickness to fly in vain (from The Indian Queen)
 If love's a sweet passion (from The Fairy Queen, Z628)
 If music be the food of love, Z379
 King Arthur, Z628
 Man is for the woman made (from The Mock Marriage, Z605)
 Music for a while, Z583
 Now the night is chac'd away (from The Fairy Queen, Z629)
 O solitude, my sweetest choice, Z406
 O! fair Cedaria, hide those eyes Z402
 Oedipus: incidental music, Z583
 Pausanius, the Betrayer of his Country: incidental music, Z585
 Plainte - O, Let Me Weep (from The Fairy Queen, Z629)
 Sweeter than Roses (from Pausanius, the Betrayer of his Country, Z585)
 Tell me, some pitying angel (The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation), Z196
 The bashful Thames
 The Fairy Queen, Z629
 The fatal hour comes on apace, Z421
 The Indian Queen, Z630
 They tell us that your mighty powers, Z630
 Thrice happy lovers (An Epithalamium) 
 When first Amintas sued for a kiss, Z430

"Carolyn Sampson's luminescent soprano, with its easeful enunciation, seemingly instinctive ornamentation, and total lack of self-consciousness captures the bittersweet 'affects' of 'Sweeter than Roses', relishes the shifting tones of voice in the long nocturnal, 'From silent shades', and glows against a single theorbo accompaniment in the great 'Evening Hymn'. The instrumental palette, though limited, is exquisitely tuned to Sampson's voice and to the character of each piece.
BBC Music Magazine - December 2007 ****

"It is immediately obvious from the first few songs that this disc is truly special. Carolyn Sampson's singing is deliciously enjoyable for its sweet tuning, flawless intonation, impeccable stylishness, shapely phrasing of melodic lines and textural awareness."
Gramophone Magazine - December 2007