Britten: Before Life & After (Mark Padmore/Roger Vignoles)

This album is a masterpiece on Padmore's voice. I would say that you will need to hear this album several times until understand the meaning and aim of each track.
Mark Padmore is fantastic by all means !

Tenor Mark Padmore made his career in Bach and other Baroque composers; his tone is boyish and light, even now in his maturity - he turned 51 this year. For all his experience and musicality, the singer steps into dangerous territory with songs written for the unique voice of Peter Pears. Pears's tone was famous for not appealing to all listeners, to be tactful. But even though the timbre was peculiar and nasal, Pears used his voice with power and passion, two qualities that are hard to summon convincingly with a lighter voice. Even a singer who succeeds on artistic grounds is unlikely to erase the memory of the voice for which all of this music was written.

To Padmore's credit, he is artistic enough to engage us with he nine Holy Sonnets of John Donne, a little known masterpiece that sets perhaps the most difficult poems in the entire song repertoire. It takes intense focus on the part of listener and performer to bring off Donne's linguistic sophistication, out-sized emotions, and fervent Christianity. On vocal grounds, however, Padmore seems a bit swamped. He lacks the declamatory power that these songs call for - each one is a soliloquy of the soul, Shakespearean in scope. If you can overlook the strain in his voice, Padmore gives an honorable second interpretation of a score indelibly identified with Pears and Britten together. Roger Vignobles provides exceptionally good accompaniments.

the tension eases in three Britten arrangements of songs by his beloved Henry Purcell. Padmore is to the manner born here, and he sings with the same kind of serious Romantic feeling that Pears used; nothing emotionally flat or period-tinkly here. Next is "Winter Words," another under-performed Britten cycle. To quote the Wikipedia entry, "Written in 1954, it sets eight poems by Thomas Hardy about the fleetingness of experience, which contrast brief instances (a boy's boredom on a long train ride, the creak of an old table, a certain light in the trees in November) against the unfeeling vastness of time." It's at this point than artistry might give way to a more basic question: how to deliver a program without smiles or sunshine? Hardy's texts, like Donne's and the three selected by Purcell, are implacable and often bleak. ("Job's Curse" isn't exactly a title gauged to evoke merriment.)

But a bit of the listener's restlessness can be laid to Padmore's rather worn state of voice, which turns wobbly under pressure, even in the Purcell. "Winter Words" has teasing, ambiguous melodies, so there's no relief in easy lyrical writing. The slightness of Padmore's voice seems to limit him; there's not much psychological coloring here. At least he doesn't croon or coo despite the constant use of head voice. He's good at the melismatic decoration of the vocal line, too, and always expressive. I imagine that fans of Ian Bostridge, whose voice and interpretative style are quite similar to Padmore's, will find more enjoyment here than I did. Both specialize in the intellectual mastery of subtlety. Visceral impact is minimal, but this is minimalist music. What I chiefly brought away was admiration for an obscure song cycle that I will return to.

Britten arranged a multitude of traditional folk songs, of which Padmore delivers five. Padmore is thoroughly musical and engaged. Pears was capable of turning simple tunes into sophisticated displays of artistry; Padmore isn't far behind. As the dissonant accompaniment to The Miller of Dee shows, Britten intended these to be art songs. Carrying out the earnest tone of the whole recital, none of the five selections was chosen to be rollicking or humorous - no matter. There have been few recent Britten recitals that are this searching and dedicated.

Here's the complete program:

Britten:

Winter Words, Op. 52

The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, Op. 35

The Miller of Dee

I wonder as I wander

Sail on

At the mid hour of night

There's none to soothe

Purcell:

Thou wakeful shepherd that dost Israel keep (A Morning Hymn), Z198

(realised Britten)

Let the night perish (Job's Curse), Z191

(realised Britten)

An Evening Hymn 'Now that the sun hath veiled his light', Z193

(realised Britten)