England's
Borromini Ensemble is a scholarly group that brings together Baroque compositions in historically appropriate groupings. In Purling Streams promises a delightful collection of pastoral music, a category that would have made perfect sense to a well-heeled English audience of the time. Both vocal and instrumental works are included, with composers ranging from Britons (Blow, Purcell, Handel, Croft) to what would have been fashionable imports (Bononcini, Charpentier, Hotteterre, François Couperin). There are nice subtleties, such as the tracing of the sound of dance rhythms that audiences would have had in their heads.
Unfortunately, the album suffers from a flaw common to many scholarly projects: it's not beautiful. Soprano Sarah Westwood comes in consistently on the flat side of the pitch. And though the recording was made in Church Stretton, Shropshire, it sounds as though it was made in a padded cell. The players and producers seem to have been trying to create an intimate sound, but what they've come up with is sonic glop. It's too bad, because the basic idea of the program is sound. Here's hoping someone picks up the idea and runs with it.