Roman: To the Northern Star
The Swedish composer Johan Helmich Roman has been covered here before among the reviews; in this case we come back to his writing for flute, played here by Yu-Wei Hu, student of two famous baroque specialists, Rachel Brown and Lisa Bezosiuk. But vocal pieces are also included, a canata from 1726 and an aria from 1730. The album ends with a trio sonata, adopted here for violin and flute with continuo. Altogether, this is an interesting recital of Roman’s music at 67 minutes, made with special care.
I found this recording especially nice sonically; the flute is pushed hard left, the soprano Emily Atkinson, far-right. There’s not only a wide soundstage, but it’s got depth too. Atkinson vibrates, but does so with restraint and her voice comes across well in this recording.
Flauguissimo was founded by Hu and Johan Löfving; he’s the lutenist in the recording, who, again, credit to the sound engineers, his instrument, as that of Henrik Persson on gamba, are nicely balanced against the soloists.
It’s difficult to not hear whiffs of Handel in Roman’s music; the solo flute piece (with continuo) BeRI 204 especially so. Hu plays with an easy-going affect, the overall effect is satisfying, especially so when the composer includes opportunities for dynamic shading, which Hu takes.
The absence on this recording of a harpsichord was a tad refreshing. It’s a reminder that the role of basso continuo can be realized by a variety of instruments.
The violin takes stage in the opening of the Bröllops Music, the 18th track on this recording. The piece, according to the booklet, for a wedding celebration. I thought the opening was a bit polite, but then Magdalena Loth-Hill comes out of the shell as the music expands with complexity. It’s an apt reminder that Roman was a gifted composer for both the violin and the flute. Atkinson’s voice is a great match for instruments, given her voice’s strong core tone.
The finale, an E minor trio sonata, isn’t a long and involved piece, but its full of strong writing by the composer, giving a nod to his time by including a contrapuntal fast movement that gives a nod to Corelli. It also reinforces the natural, gorgeous acoustic that the Resonus’ Adam Binks was able to capture from Holy Trinity Church in Herfordshire.
