Customer Reviews

Couperin: Leçons de Ténèbres

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My passion for classical music began (and ended, with occasional excursions) with baroque vocal music. It also began in the 90's with early J.E. Gardiner, Alessandro Scarlatti (Alain Zaepfel and Véronique Dietschy), and François Couperin's Leçons de ténèbres. My first and favorite recording was sung by Ann Monoyios and Monique Zanetti and I have never, ever gotten over it. Since then I have acquired multiple (+10) recordings of this work sung with every voice type (and I mean every).
Couperin's Leçons is a singer's paradise: with a nearly naked accompagniment, only beauty of tone and inspired interpretation will suffice. It is also extremely difficult music (cadenzas, and fiorituri abound).

This recording is important.

Daniel Taylor is our very best counter-tenor - if perhaps tied with Brian Asawa - for sheer beauty of alto voice. Here he brings his amazing vocality and raw loveliness - a bit of Michael Chance's breathiness, too - and his professed belief in the spiritual dimension of this text. Taylor's voice is both natural and at the highest level of skill. He chooses Robin Blaze - who infuses true beauty into a more conventional falesettist sound - to partner with, also an excellent choice, as he is also a consumate musician and true believer.

I listened to this music today and I award it my highest compliment: while trying to compare/contrast this interpretation with the Monoyios/Zanetti, I could not recall the eariler recording but had to experience this music in the eternal present.

What an incredibly beautiful performance! The two solo voices and the accompaniment are perfectly matched and superbly recorded. The Canadian countertenors Daniel Taylor and Robin Blaze sing as well as anyone can sing - and, since I don't particularly care for countertenors (whose voices so often sound forced and artificial to me), this performance was a real revelation. This record is a real find.