James Bowman is a member of the second generation of modern countertenors, an admirer of
Alfred Deller who has cultivated that master's melancholy, moderate-sized style rather than the big Baroque castrato sound favored by younger countertenors. Well into his seventh decade, which is old for a countertenor, he offers here a retrospective recital of personal favorites, with liner notes of his own explaining the significance each piece holds in his musical life. This is something more singers ought to try; given the chance to hear performances of classical music as creative responses to given situations, audiences will do so. Still, this is probably a disc for those already interested in this particular performer rather than those looking for an initiation into the wonderful world of the male high voice. The first part of Songs for Ariel focuses mostly on theatrical music by
Purcell and
Handel, music that really requires more firepower than
Bowman brings to it. The modern English pieces that make up the second half of the disc are more successful; they were mostly written with
Deller and his followers in mind, and
Bowman shows his considerable elegance of phrasing in, for example, the subtle, unsettling octave leaps of
Peter Warlock's The Night. The album's title piece, by
Michael Tippett, was actually written for
Deller, but
Bowman seems less than enthusiastic about it. He excels, however, in the "Woodcutters Song" from
Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Pilgrims Progress, which was not originally written for countertenor;
Bowman was assured by
Vaughan Williams' widow that he would have composed music for countertenor had he lived to witness the renaissance of the genre. There are beautiful moments on the album that will be cherished by
Bowman's admirers; among them is the opening Salve regina chant, which
Bowman remembered from boyhood performances as a chorister at Ely Cathedral. The sound environment of the Abbaye de Saint-Michel en Thierache in Aisne, France, is especially flattering to
Bowman's voice.