Fanfare Magazine‘s Ken Meltzer recommends Le Dolce Sirene from the Bach Aria Soloists “with the utmost enthusiasm”:

“In Le Dolce Sirene, the BAS explores vocal and instrumental music ranging from Monteverdi to the 21st-century English composer Cecilia McDowall. The emphasis is on Baroque repertoire, performed with such HIP elements as minimal vibrato and ornamentation in repeated sections. Within that foundation, the BAS offers music-making of striking beauty, energy, and an infectious enthusiasm for the works at hand. Soprano Sarah Tannehill Anderson is a constant source of pleasure. Her crystalline tone, impeccable pitch, supple and expressive phrasing, and sparkling coloratura are all exemplary. Anderson’s instrumentalist colleagues are equally impressive, performing with a verve that avoids any semblance of routine. The concluding work on the disc, the ensemble’s improvised variations on the melody La Folia, wed virtuoso playing to a delectable ebb and flow that builds inexorably to a bracing close. The BAS demonstrates its versatility in the remaining works.…

As is typical of Reference Recordings, the production values are first-rate. The recorded sound is excellent, as are Steven Ledbetter’s booklet notes. Full texts and translations are provided for the sung repertoire. This is a program that embodies the joy of music-making, from start to finish. Recommended with the utmost enthusiasm.”

—Ken Meltzer, Fanfare

Full review in the May/June 2023 issue of Fanfare – and also on Amazon