Credit where it is due

It is no secret that I am not an unequivocal fan of the nation's favourite Roderick Williams, and I must admit to being rather unkind to him in one or two Blog references. As I am fundamentally a generous spirited fellow, I am happy to show my positive side towards this often admirable singer.

I was recently listening to 'Essential Classics on Radio 3 (sounds like a supermarket brand but it's a wonderful programme) and had to pop into another room on a trivial errand. When I returned, a baritone was singing, (to orchestral accompaniment), William Denis Browne's exquisite 'To Gratiana Dancing and Singing'. The performance really was remarkably fine; quite delightful. 'Who is this?' I thought. A rueful realisation dawned: it was Roddy W!!

Several subsequent re-listenings have not altered my opinion: this is a lovely performance of a lovely song. Williams' tone is rich, yet refined and his style unfailingly elegant. Above all, he displays a pretty much exemplary response to the text: words and music sound as one. I cannot imagine a finer performance.

And this begs a question: why is RW's response to this poem so much more engaged than in a number of his other song recordings (I have noted a certain blandness in this regard in the past). Is it perhaps because RW, as a very sophisticated artist, responds particularly well to the ultra sophisticated, if fundamentally artificial, world of Richard Lovelace's beautiful poem?

To Gratiana Dancing and Singing

See! With what constant motion

Even, and glorious, as the sun,

Gratiana steers that noble frame,

Soft as her breast, sweet as her voice

That gave each winding law and poise,

And swifter than the wings of Fame.

Each step trod out a lover’s thought

And the ambitious hopes he brought,

Chain’d to her brave feet with such arts;

Such sweet command, and gentle awe,

As when she ceas’d, we sighing saw

The floor lay pav’d with broken hearts.

So did she move; so did she sing

Like the harmonious spheres that bring

Unto their rounds their music’s aid;

Which she performèd such a way,

As all th’ enamoured world will say:

The Graces danced, and Apollo play’d.

I mention this because elsewhere is the recital I find Williams far less convincing. The disc as a whole is still certainly worth hearing in its entirity and is a fascinating mixture of the familiar and the relatively obscure. Orchestrations are by Roderick Williams (of course...) and the Halle Orchestra are conducted by Sir Mark Elder. I shall consider the whole disc in due course but meanwhile I commend this superb individual performance by a very fine singer.

https://youtu.be/YSKWATApSyw?si=1646c-OO3NB6_SC1