French counter tenor
Henri Ledroit had a career that flourished in the 1970s and 1980s, before the wave of young counter tenors that began emerging in the 1990s that raised the bar considerably for the voice type, both timbrally and technically.
Ledroit was a protégé of
Alfred Deller's, and his voice has a similar lightness, but he was not as limber or technically assured as
Deller. This retrospective collection of music by Charpentier, Tunder, Grandi, Monteverdi, and Leopold I, released in 2008 to honor the twentieth anniversary of his death, reveals a singer with good interpretive skills, but with neither the instrument nor the technique to make a strong impression.
Ledroit's timbre sounds closer to that of a high tenor than to a counter tenor in several of the selections, and he tends to lose focus and power at the bottom of his range. Music that requires higher volume, particularly Charpentier's song Le Bavolet, results in a forced tone, awkwardly putting a lack of vocal discipline on display.
Ledroit is at his best in Charpentier's delicately lyrical, expressive songs, which showcase his interpretive sensitivity and musical insight. One of the most satisfying tracks is Charpentier's cantata, Orphée descendant aux enfers, in which he's joined by tenor
Guy de Mey and bass Jacques Bona.
Ricercar Consort provides a solid, if somewhat conventional and low-profile accompaniment. The sound quality varies some between tracks, but is generally clear and clean.