Counter tenor makes an effort
Garth WilshereCHINESE counter tenor Xiao Ma has excellent technique in this ”manufactured” head voice.
Ma has a wide range and tackled pieces by Vivaldi and Handel well. His voice production though audibly appears seamless, does come with what appear to be effortful facial and bodily distortions and with clichéd diva-ish mannered gestures which become distracting.
His voice though strong lacks a little in tonal variety and possesses a feminine edge to the sound.
Tempi for the Handel arias were nicely done, such as Ombra mai fu (Xerxes), Lascia ch’io pianga (Rinaldo) but Rodelinda’s Vivi, Tiranno were on the slow side and the Rodelinda aria was missing some of the bite that it requires.
The instrumental ensemble of four led by Gregory Squire often struggled with pitch in the strings, but with the outstanding contribution from harpsichordist Erin Helyard, their support was good.
Their own Trio Sonatas were generally adequate but too much played and out-of-tune playing sometimes marred otherwise excellent performances.









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