Subtitled "the spirit of Renaissance Spain," this recording has our manly British sextet exploring, with aplomb and panache, the marriage of music and drama that was popularized by Catalan musician Mateo Flecha the Elder. The salubrious accompaniment of the Harp Consort, under the direction of Andrew Lawrence King ("consort" is a period term for an ensemble), sets the stage, as it were, for the unfolding of either courtly and elegant polyphony, or a display of rustic and passionate bravura. The latter, typified by the fiery dance rhythms of the villancicos, and the slow sensual breaths of "Zarambeques" (and bass Stephen Connolly's earthy timbre), are in contrast to the "Benedictus (from Mass for the Dead)" and "Por las Sierras de Madrid," (combining no less than four separate tunes with an improvised treble part, using a form known as qoudlibet). This mixture, blended with both scholarly acumen and a generous dose of unmannered showmanship, makes "Fire-water" a new King's Singers favorite. |
