In the latest celebration of the Academy of Ancient Music’s 50th anniversary, the Academy returned to Milton Court for an uplifting night stylishly connecting composers “English by birth”, “English by choice” and “English by circumstance” in a herculean effort by this talented, well-matched ensemble.
Kicking off with Dowland, Purcell, Blow and Arne, we moved through the Restoration to a collaboration between Cesare Morelli and Samuel Pepys, to the transverse flute of Loeillet, the violins of Geminiani, the cantatas of Handel and the songs of Charles Ignatius Sancho – a programme spanning nearly two centuries without counting the finale of a newly commissioned piece by Roderick Williams in honour of Sancho’s abolitionism.
The programme was created in collaboration with American countertenor Reginald Mobley, who has made a name both as a skilled soloist and an advocate for diversity in music. Often performing alone with AAM director and harpsichordist Laurence Cummings, Mobley exhibited a wide range of expressive performance, from the languidness of Dowland to Purcell's pacy exhortations.
Mobley's ornamentation was deliberate and precise, with controlled phrasing over the harpsichord’s delicate accompaniment, especially in Purcell’s Music for a While and O solitude. Occasionally his vibrato came across a little too strong, and some of Handel’s Mi palpita il cor suffered from a touch of over-pronunciation. However, his wonderful sense of storytelling came across throughout the evening.
Yet it was in the ensemble pieces that the AAM got to showcase its verve and skill. The Chaconne from Purcell's King Arthur plunged the orchestra gloriously into full Baroque drama, plaintive and decisive by turns. Likewise Geminiani’s Concerto grosso in D major, giving the violins their moment to shine, with vigorous and rousing work between moving interludes. This was the AAM at its best, all musicians fully responsive to Cummings’ direction in a wall of luscious sound.
Rachel Brown’s playing of Loeillet was vivid and emotive, gracefully moving through the Sonata in A minor and the Continuo, Op.3 no.4. Sancho’s Suite of Songs and Dances was swashbuckling, with the indefatigable violin section in its element. Mobley was on fine form in the songs, his voice sparklingly clear over the ensemble's vigour. Particularly in Sweetest Bard, he displayed his power for storytelling, engaging with each section of the audience with charm.
The evening closed with From Ignatius Sancho, a new piece by Roderick Williams that was co-commissioned by Mobley and the AAM. It combines a Baroque style of musical phrasing with a ground bass, as well as familiar harmonies, while allowing Mobley and the ensemble to vary the tempo and dynamics with modern effect. The work sets to music an 18th-century poem by Ewan Clark, based on a letter by Sancho in which he decries the “unenlighten’d ignorance” of racist society at the time of abolition and powerfully concludes, “Your heart must melt must your kind hand dispose, in powr’ful phrase to lead the Captive cause,” a vivid exhortation, with the grounding of the harpsichord giving an almost menacing darkness under Mobley’s articulative countertenor. He sang with passion, lending musical resonance to Sancho’s written word.
Finishing with an additional Handel number – described by Mobley as “that musical invasive species” – the AAM elicited an audible sigh from the Stalls with “Yet can I hear that dulcet lay”, a showcase of Mobley’s range and tonal variety to bring to a close a diverse and thought-provoking journey through a mammoth canon, displaying huge talent as well as a love for all things Baroque.
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