Lachrimae review
- 20th of August, 2019
"If only they could do a project together with us. The choir had spotted us on YouTube." Jaap Noorman, the hub of Fries Lachrimae Consort, a group of viol players, will have consulted the same medium and, hey presto, the arrival of the English chamber choir Ishirini had been arranged. For this young choir, which travelled to Nepal, India, Tanzania and Ethiopia, the trip to our country will have been a small step, but their coming here is definitely quite special. The twenty singers of Lachrimae's own formation had the day off. It was all about English Renaissance music, roughly from the time of King James I. First item was John Dowland's melancholy Lachrimae Antiquae, performed by the viols. Ishirini made its entrance with Salvator Mundi by Thomas Tallis. With If ye be risen again with Christ the forces were combined. The soft velvety sound of the instrumentalists blended deliciousIv with the vocal contributions. The sound of Ishirini can only be characterized as impeccable. The voices mingled and coloured in excellent fashion and where needed the right accents could be heard. The consort sounded as one single instrument, controlled, projecting composure, and it proved to be a solid base for the British singing. Praiseworthy in the way that - without English roots - it adapted so well to this music tradition. The stylish instrumental pieces (Orlando Gibbons and William Byrd) played on the organ by choirmaster Jeremy Rouse, were spot-on. The instrument in the Lutheran church seemed to be made for this. Mr Rouse briefly mentioned the problems of English composers of the time in a religious divided society. They fled or were upbraided repeatedly. Like the Roman Catholic Byrd. And then Gibbons's Cries of London. Lachrimae bowed with spirit the instrumental texture underneath Ishirini's street and market shouts: individual vocal contributions coming from all corners of the church.
Rudolf Nammensma (Leeuwarder Courant, August 20, 2019)
