The Early Music Legend

James Bowman gives some reference to David Munrow  In search of a voice: James Bowman interviewed We met in an unusually empty bar in the rather posh Athanaeum Club, in the wake of the July 2005 London bombings. ?Usually?, Bowman joked, ?it?s full of sleeping Vicars, over in the other corner?. The comment set the tone for the interview: he has a wonderful sense of humour, and humanity and humility. And loves talking. Determined to keep to musical matters, I vowed not to be sidetracked by his humorous anecdotes. But one, I have to say, is worth repeating. The time when in France, his billing as an ?alto? meant that a group of viola enthusiasts turned up. How would he play the Schumann pieces, the Brahms or the Hindemith? The venue for our interview, and the fact that I forgot to wear a tie?dress-code for the club?underlined one driving force of his career: his quintessential Englishness. In his teens his life?s ambition was to sing in the choir at King?s College Cambridge?an ambitio...

'Songs for Ariel' James Bowman countertenor Kenneth Weiss harpsichord & piano (More data on this at the end of Bowman interview) In 2005, after several years of absence from the recording world, James Bowman recorded a very English recital programme covering five centuries of music. Presented under the title of Shakespeare's airy spirit, Ariel, the repertoire covers many aspects of his long and distinguished career, about which his own liner note and an interview with the musicologist Richard Langham Smith reveal some of the secrets. As accompanist James Bowman has chosen the American harpsichordist and pianist Kenneth Weiss, with whom he has been giving recitals for many years. Recorded at Abbaye de Saint-Michel en Thiérache, Aisne, France 21-23 vi 2005 Harpshichord Marc Ducornet / Chembaleros – François Ryelandt Ottavino Frédéric Bal Piano Schimmel / Piano Perlot Recorded by Musica Numeris Recording Producer Martin Compton Balance engineer Aline Blondiau, M...

The following is a testimony from Robert King who played an important part in the promotion of early music before his tragic "downfall" which will not be discussed here. ............I did indeed (as a gawky teenager) appear on "Nationwide" with Sue Lawley (with whom I immediately fell passionately in love as I thought her to be utterly gorgeous!) in either 1977 or 78 (I forget exactly when, I'm afraid). I did a few other TV and radio appearances as well........... Yes, I was (and am still) a huge Munrow fan, and attended as many of his concerts as I could from about 1974 to 1976 (I even went to the Monteverdi and his Contemporaries concert at the QEH a few days before Munrow's death). I was only a schoolboy then, but I loved his radio shows, loved his recordings (I think I have all of them!), thought his book was a magnificent work (though I have a signed copy it was autographed, since I was at Boarding School, in my absence) - in short he was my total hero....

Legendary countertenor gives last London recital Martin Cullingford 4:32pm GMT 23rd May 2011 On Saturday the countertenor James Bowman took his leave of the London stage for the final time, with a Wigmore Hall recital that drew to a close more than four decades of performance. Bowman had said he didn’t want it to be an emotional occasion, and such was his self-deprecating chat between performances (a masterclass in endearing stage informality) that the tone was one of levity rather than a dwelling on the passing of an era. But what an era closed with his final bow. Bowman first graced the Wigmore stage in 1967, as part of an audition with David Munrow’s Early Music Consort for the influential agent Emmie Tillett. In subsequent years Munrow went on to transform perceptions of early music, while Bowman would go on to pick up Alfred Deller’s mantle and elevate a voice type only really then preserved in the English choral tradition, into a central part of the vocal music world. In d...

Sunday, 6 March 2011  - High Praise for High Notes James Bowman is one of my favourite counter-tenors. In recent times, thanks largely to Alfred Deller spreading awareness of the early-music repertoire of the counter-tenor in the 50s and 60s, the counter-tenor has found a new and growing audience. James Bowman has helped that progress. In many ways it is a very English singing voice, which harks back to the minstrel days of John Dowland, and James Bowman is a very English counter-tenor. His recordings, particularly for Hyperion Records , have brought me immeasurable pleasure over the years. There is something about the high range that connects with me. I eventually managed to see him live in a small church in deepest Somerset, performing an intimate recital of song including Dowland and Purcell, and I am grateful for having done so. On May the 21st, James will perform his last London recital at the Wigmore Hall with harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani...

         Broadcast « on: April 02, 2009, 02:26:47 PM » James Bowman gives some references to David Munrow  In search of a voice: James Bowman interviewed We met in an unusually empty bar in the rather posh Athanaeum Club, in the wake of the July 2005 London bombings. Usually, Bowman joked, ?it's full of sleeping Vicars, over in the other corner. The comment set the tone for the interview: he has a wonderful sense of humour, and humanity and humility. And loves talking. Determined to keep to musical matters, I vowed not to be sidetracked by his humorous anecdotes. But one, I have to say, is worth repeating. The time when in France, his billing as an alto meant that a group of viola enthusiasts turned up. How would he play the Schumann pieces, the Brahms or the Hindemith The venue for our interview, and the fact that I forgot to wear a tie dress-code for the club underlined one driving force of his care...