She’s sweetest when she’s naked
Alison Melville, baroque flute and recorder
2005, EMCCD 7761
Mary-Katherine Finch: baroque cello,
Michael Jarvis, Paul Jenkins & Charlotte Nediger: harpsichord,
Kirk Elliott: harp and guitar &
Ben Grossman: bodhrán, tambourine and snare drums.
This is the fourth solo recording by flautist Alison Melville, for which this member of the Toronto Consort, Ensemble Polaris and Tafelmusik has conveyed some of her favourite music partners to join her. The enthusiasm she invested in her research paid-off : She discovered that for well over a century, the demand for Scottish instrumental and vocal music fuelled tremendous publishing activity in Scotland. Surely, Haydn and Beethoven’s Scottish song arrangements are some of the more celebrated examples, but some very large collections appeared, such as Robert Burns's Scots Musical Museum and James Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion to name but two.
From the gigantic repertoire she discovered for her instruments, Alison recorded 25 chosen pieces, including the contagious Greensleeves, that she revisits with tremendous freshness, in an original arrangement created by her fellow musicians.
That opening track will probably define the recording for the listener : if it doesn't move you, you need to proceed no farther. It sent chills up my spine, and the recording is laced with a number of similar tunes some solo, others with the most tasteful of accompaniments on harp or guitar.
Kemer Thomson, The San Diego Harpsichord Society (USA), June 2005
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