John Andrews | Andrew Benson-Wilson : Early Music Reviews +

John Frederick Lampe: The Dragon of Wantley
The Brook Street Band, John Andrews
Resonus Classics RES10304. 2CDs 59’44+44’12

Mary Bevan soprano, Margery
Catherine Carby mezzo soprano, Mauxalinda
Mark Wilde tenor, Moore of Moore Hall
John Savournin bass-baritone, Gaffer Gubbins and The Drago

The German-born bassoonist and composer John Frederick Lampe is little-known today, as is this opera, but both were well-known in their time. A recording of his opera The Dragon of Wantley is well worthwhile, although the subtleties of the irony of the text and the pastiche of the music, let alone the possible allusions to the politics of the day, may escape a present-day listener. But no matter, the music is delightful and the oh-so-rhyming text is funny, in a deliberately hamfisted way.

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Thomas Arne: The Judgement of Paris
Brook Street Band, John Andrews
Dutton Epoch CDLX 7361. 67’50

If it wasn’t for his Rule Britannia (1710-1778), Thomas Arne would probably be more-or-less forgotten today. Although he wrote music for nearly 100 stage works, most of his scores are lost, many destroyed in the 1808 Covent Garden fire. Such was the fate of the full score of The Judgement of Paris, although parts if it had been published. The version performed here is based on that publication, with the missing recitatives and choruses reconstructed by Ian Spink for his Musica Britannica edition. It was first performed at Drury Lane Theatre in March 1742 and, three months later, in Dublin alongside his masque Alfred. His wife Cecilia Young sang the role of Venus. Continue reading →