CRITIC’S CHOICE

Terry Blain

I’ve been noodling around in some English Baroque byways, and came across an exquisite album of John

Blow vocal and instrumental music. Blow was one of Purcell’s teachers, and his melancholic Ode on the Death of Mr Henry Purcell is the CD’S emotional centrepiece, featuring delectable duetting from tenors Thomas Walker and Samuel Boden. His gentle, empathetic muse is a soothing counterpoint to the stridence of the present era.