LOVESICK
with lutenist Stephen Stubbs
Randall’s Lute and Folk Song Album
The experience of being lovesick is universal. We are not the first to encounter it and there is no place safe from feeling this particular brand of melancholy. A favourite topic in art since the medieval period, museums are bursting with portrayals of love’s rebuke, and lovesickness has been studied as a legitimate medical illness, not least of all by Sigmund Freud who called it ‘a kind of craziness’. The 17th century was a unique period when feeling these bittersweet emotions was embraced as fuel for artistic expression. Love triggers an amphetamine-like euphoria in a dozen regions of the brain, similar to cocaine, dopamine, and oxytocin. In the thralls of an amorous high, one easily forgets the opposite of that ecstasy; unrequited or faded love that brings a despair all its own, causing depression, confusion, apathy, mood swings, and insomnia—the physical manifestation of heartbreak.
For his second album on Signum Records, countertenor Randall Scotting is joined by celebrated lutenist Stephen Stubbs for a collection of anti-Valentine’s songs focusing on heartbreak and loss from the 17th century. In programming this album, it was important to show several sides of the experience of lovesickness—royal and modest, mythical and commonplace, abstract and objective—all valued commentaries on a universally felt heart-of-sorrow. Since lovesickness is not geographically bound, the French music of Moulinié and Guédron is placed alongside Italian arias by Cesti and Castrovillari to illustrate the expanse of love’s plague-like destruction throughout seventeenth-century Europe. While so-called high art and folk music have usually been kept separate, this album shows that the songs of Purcell, Blow, Dowland, and Lawes blend beautifully with the traditional ballads of Scotland, Ireland, and England, to which they are so obviously linked.
Music Video ‘Time stands still’
Purcell’s ‘When Orpheus Sang’
Album Tracklist
1 William Lawes I’m sick of love: O let me lie London c. 1645
2 There’s none to soothe my soul to rest traditional Gaelic song
3 Étienne Moulinié Enfin la beauté que j’adore Paris 1624
4 William Lawes Perfect and endless circles are London c. 1645
5 Henry Purcell When Orpheus sang Northampton 1689
6 Henry Purcell Suite from King Arthur (for baroque guitar) London 1691
7 John Blow Tell me no more you love; in vain London 1700
8 Marc’Antonio Cesti ‘Intorno all’idol mio’ Innsbruck 1656,
9 Henry Lawes I rise and grieve London c. 1626
10 At the mid hour of night London pub. 1813, traditional Irish song
11 Henry Purcell She loves and she confesses, too London 1683
12 John Dowland Fortune my foe (for solo lute) London pub. 1596
13 John Dowland Time stands still London 1603
14 John Blow The Self-banished London 1700
15 Mary’s dream London 1774, traditional Scottish ballad
16 Daniele da Castrovillari ‘Luci belle’ Venice 1662
17 Henry Purcell O, lead me to some peaceful gloom London 1695
18 The three ravens London 1611, traditional English ballad
19 Anonymous Packington’s Pound (for solo bass lute) London c. 1600
20 Pierre Guédron Cessés mortels de soupirer Paris pub. 1613
21 Black is the colour of my true love’s hair traditional Scottish ballad
22 Henry Purcell O solitude, my sweetest choice London 1687
REVIEWS
‘The programme is skillfully planned and beautifully executed…Scotting sings throughout with rich, even tone and clear diction‘ – Gramophone
★★★★ Performance ★★★★ Recording ‘A worthy platform for the acclaimed musical and dramatic skills of Randall Scotting and Stephen Stubbs… the mention of trumpets brings forth a vividly descriptive vocal fanfare… [they] evoke a happy stylishness and transcend the routine verse structure to produce a fluid lyricism’ – BBC Music Magazine
‘Scotting has a flexible and rich countertenor voice… This CD is obviously a very personal project, and these two fine musicians’ enthusiasm for this wide-ranging repertoire communicates itself very well‘ – Early Music Review
★★★★½ ‘Give yourself up to the manifold pleasures of this gorgeous release… American countertenor Randall Scotting’s strapping image runs counter to what you might expect. There is a robustness to the voice, too, but refined through his extensive operatic experience. The opera house and the salon coexist in this dramatic yet intimate themed recital… It’s all just too beautiful‘ – Limelight
‘Scotting succeeds in accentuating the passion and drama in these songs. His flexible countertenor is perfectly suited to the task, with a warm tone, crisp enunciation, and a natural vibrato‘ – Early Music America
‘Not only beautifully sung, but “lived” by Scotting… The expressivity of his vocal inflections is of an august individuality… Scotting’s beautiful, warm, velvety voice becomes heavy in emotion and articulation when the character of the song dwells in feelings of sadness and solitude, and it becomes equally as bright and vibrant in others, when optimism shows itself… Lovesick is an album that will stir up any music lover’s sense of emotion‘ – Opera Charm Magazine
★★★★ ‘A strong program; perhaps no one else has offered a works-on-a-theme set of this kind… Scotting has a powerful voice; he has a feeling for these songs and the sheer beauty of his voice comes through no matter what the material. Listeners are likely to enjoy this release‘ – All Music
‘Any risk of addiction? So much the better – these songs are worth it! A fascinating mix… instead of dramatic coloratura we are here treated to inward beautiful singing, with strong feelings’ – Musicweb International
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MORE RECORDINGS
ERCOLE SU’L TERMODONTE : Vivaldi
Randall performs the role of Teseo on this live DVD recording of Ercole su’l Termodonte by Antonio Vivaldi performed at Teatro Caio Melisso in Spoleto. Recorded with il Complesso Barocco, conducted by Alan Curtis at the Festival dei due Mondi, Italy.
Divine Impresario: Nicolini on Stage
Coming on 13 March 2026. Randall’s solo album of music for the famed castrato Nicolini, including some of Handel’s most beloved arias. Recorded with Laurence Cummings conducting the Academy of Ancient Music.
THE CROWN: Heroic Arias for Senesino
Randall’s debut solo album with Laurence Cummings conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
INFINITE REFRAIN:17th Century Gay Love Duets
Randall’s album, with tenor Jorge Navarro Colorado, of Venetian love songs and duets from Monteverdi and his colleagues. Recorded with the Academy of Ancient Music and Laurence Cummings conducting.
SANTO STEFANO : Caldara
Randall sings the title role of Stefano on this studio recording of the Oratorio di Santo Stefano Primo Re dell’Ungheria by Antonio Caldara. Recorded with the Savaria Baroque Orchestra in Budapest, Hungary, released on Hungaroton in 2011.
