A listener might reasonably approach Come to the River: An Early American Gathering, performed by the Cleveland-based Baroque orchestra Apollo's Fire, with some trepidation. Some individual classical performers have the instincts to make a convincing transition to folk music, but it seems harder for ensembles, as evidenced by the Boston Camerata's albums of early American popular songs, sung with the polished elegance appropriate to a Haydn mass, and without a glimmer of spontaneity or pleasure. Jeannette Sorell, founder ...
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A listener might reasonably approach Come to the River: An Early American Gathering, performed by the Cleveland-based Baroque orchestra Apollo's Fire, with some trepidation. Some individual classical performers have the instincts to make a convincing transition to folk music, but it seems harder for ensembles, as evidenced by the Boston Camerata's albums of early American popular songs, sung with the polished elegance appropriate to a Haydn mass, and without a glimmer of spontaneity or pleasure. Jeannette Sorell, founder and director of Apollo's Fire, has very good instincts. The album is a total delight, performed with the highest musical standards, which in this case includes attention to living folk traditions, performing with an improvisatory freedom, and communicating a passionate investment in the emotions of the music, whether the goofy high spirits of "Nobody but the Baby," or the keening sorrow of "The Three Ravens." (It certainly helps that Sorrell spent part of her childhood in rural...
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