Colin Clarke has added Bach Aria Soloist’s Le Dolce Sirene album to his 2023 Fanfare Magazine “Want List”:

“this is a well-considered mix… It is worth taking the pieces in running order as one gets an idea of the variety of sound on offer. After that chamber Messiah, an organ sonata movement by Mendelssohn is heard in a grand performance by Elisa Williams Bickers, but one that retains miraculous clarity. Then it’s back to Handel for one of the Nine German Arias, HWV 202–210, Süße Stille, HWV 205 (Sweet Stillness). Only published in the 20th century, they are scored for soprano with melody instrument (usually the violin, the excellent Elizabeth Suh Lane). Here we discover Tannehill Anderson has a superb vocal trill at her disposal; and how well voice and violin work together in parallel intervals. Most impressive here is the performers’ grasp of Baroque Affekt, which gives the whole an aura of rightness. Hannah Collins’s cello forms a perfectly firm bass, while Elisa Williams Bickers’s harpsichord playing is superbly judged. … How eloquent is the voice/soprano dialogue of “What ‘tis to love,” the first song (As You Like It, act V, scene 2). This is an incredibly poignant setting, with Tannehill Anderson soaring beautifully towards the close. … this is remarkable stuff. … The recording is excellent, recorded, mixed, and mastered with REVEAL Super Dimension Music Technology. The placement of voice and instruments, both in relation to each other and to the listener, is carefully considered. Violinist Elizabeth Suh Lane (the artistic director and founder of Bach Aria Soloists) also acts as producer, and as co-editor with the disc’s keyboardist, Elisa Williams Bickers. Refreshing as spring water and performed and recorded to the very highest standards, this disc goes straight to my Want List shortlist.”

—Colin Clark, Fanfare

Subscribers can find the full review online or in the May/June 2023 issue of Fanfare Magazine