By Barnaby Ralph
Article published in the Queensland Early Music Journal, Autumn 2002
2003 sees the ensemble Red Priest come to town for Musica Viva. With recorder, violin, ‘cello and harpsichord as the instruments, they might sound like just another chamber group playing trio sonatas for enthusiast, but, in reality, they are something else entirely. They rearrange standard repertoire to fit their instrumentation and, with bizarre ornamentation and almost unbelievable technique, launch into some of the most astonishing performances that a classical music audience is ever likely to witness.
Piers Adams, a recorder player who will already be a familiar name to fans of the instrument, leads the group. Although he started his career by taking a degree in physics, he achieved major musical recognition by winning the 1985 Moeck Solo Recorder Playing Competition in London. He enrolled at the Guildhall, but left after one year to study privately with renowned teacher Kees Boeke. His recordings have been many and varied, and include Vivaldi concerti, modern works, nineteenth century repertoire and the Red Priest discs Priest on the Run and Nightmare in Venice, both on Dorian.
In person, he is a likeable individual with a quick wit and strong opinions. His collection of recorders is comprehensive, and includes several at unusual pitches such as Eb. Most of his instruments, carefully mounted on a large wall rack, are handmade by Michael Dawson. Dawson is a British maker who has been working with Adams to develop an instrument suitable for a modern concert hall. To this end, the recorders are wide-bored, and require considerable breath pressure to play. I tried one ‘baroque’ alto at 415 that had a large enough bore to fit my index finger all the way inside (and I have thick fingers for a recorder player)!
These instruments resemble nothing in my experience so much as an old-fashioned Dolmetsch, especially as they leave one feeling exhausted after only a few notes. This being said, these recorders have a flexibility, vibrancy and tone in the right hands that is quite marvelous. I must admit that I found them awkward and even ungainly on my first try. Once Adams played one for me, however, I realized my mistake. He put almost twice as much air through the recorder as I did, and the instrument really came to life. His playing also sounded in tune, which I found difficult at first without the aid of some really odd fingering.
The rest of his collection is more familiar to the average player. There are instruments by Küng, Von Huene, Mollenhauer and Moeck along with a few handmade recorders by individual makers such as Tim Cranmore. Of these, perhaps the Mollenhauer instruments were the most interesting and unusual. He owns three ‘modern alto’ recorders with adjustable blocks and keys for low F#/F. These have been revoiced slightly to give them a throatier and fuller sound. Two days later, I played an unmodified one of these in the London Recorder Centre and found it much less responsive. Adams’ ebony version of this instrument was probably my favourite of his collection, although it would have to vie for this honour with a gorgeous little Von Huene soprano after Ganassi that he won in a competition many years ago. This had apparently been neglected for some time but, when I blew a few notes, he remarked that it actually sounded much nicer to listen to than to play, and thought he might try dusting it off and using it again.
Probably the strangest part of our encounter was when I heard him play my instruments. I had brought along three altos by David Coomber, all of which he thought were excellent, a Ganassi soprano by Per Sabelstrom, which he loved, a 415 sopranino by Tim Arnold, which he thought needed some work but could be improved, a see-through plastic Yamaha alto, which he laughed at until he blew into it, then found very good, and a 415 soprano in ebony by Paul Whinray. I was immediately struck by how different his sound was when on these recorders. Most of my collection seemed to be a little ragged at the edges when blown hard, but the Coomber 415 boxwood alto and Sabelstrom soprano stood up surprisingly well, as did the Whinray.
It is a rare privilege to be able to sit down with one of the world’s leading players and compare notes, and I enjoyed every second. Piers Adams has a technique that is flawless and the ability to project his sound much further than anyone else that I have ever heard performing live. Usually, one has to make concessions in order to allow the recorder to be heard, especially in rapid passages, but, at last, here is someone who can stand proudly next to the clarinetist, oboist and flautist and drown them out with his exuberant virtuosity.
Barnaby Ralph