Ah, yes, another countertenor. But wait. Before you can say David Daniels, Andreas Scholl, or Daniel Taylor, you’d better stop and listen to this. And you’d better be prepared to learn a new name: Matthew White. And you’d better be prepared to apply the words “world-class”, “superior”, and “extraordinary” to any description of his singing. If you want to be immediately impressed (as opposed to gradually but inevitably), go directly to track 3, the aria “Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen” from Bach’s cantata BWV 82. If you’ve ever heard more gorgeous singing, whatever the genre, era, or style, you must be a resident of another world. Matthew White–yet one more in a growing list of exceptional Canadian vocalists–is the real thing, in possession of a voice that can wrap around a melody with such surety and grace and warmth of timbre that you can easily lose yourself in the sheer beauty of expression, no longer aware nor concerned with exactly what piece or composer you’re listening to.
The fluidity of White’s legato–demonstrated convincingly in John Blow’s “So ceas’d the rival crew”, an aria from his Ode on the death of Mr. Henry Purcell–and his consistency of quality across registers (not so easy to maintain over the precarious countertenor range) is remarkable. Even more important is that his voice–like Scholl, Daniels, and Taylor– sounds absolutely natural, not a forced, artificial creation with strident edges or zones of weakness. White makes Purcell’s aria “Draw near, you lovers” sound as free and easy as if it had been written for his voice alone. A highlight of the program is White’s rendition of William Byrd’s touching Elegy on the Death of Thomas Tallis, full of poignancy and pathos–and just plain sensitive, well-crafted vocalism. What the disc’s outer packaging doesn’t tell you is that only slightly more than half the disc features White; the rest is instrumental selections–pieces by Biber (dances), Schmelzer (a lament), Simpson (a pavan), Purcell (a fantasia), and Tallis (In nomine)–played with technical polish, finely honed articulation, and good ensemble balances. The sound is very fine, giving appropriate prominence and clarity to White’s voice while giving the instruments room to breathe. [4/19/2003]
