Masques is a young, photogenic, Montreal-based ensemble specializing in repertoire of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. On the cover of their English Fancy CD, dressed all in white, they look like Amici Forever or one of the other English crossover bands. Either that or like they just came from day jobs at a hospital. Under the covers, however, is a well-constructed and very crisply executed program of seventeenth century English music. Masques alternates instrumental and vocal selections, mixing together works from different parts of the seventeenth century in such a way as to show the continuity of English tradition even as composers reacted to the huge developments (opera, the tonal system) happening elsewhere. Composers represented are Purcell from the century's end, John Jenkins from its middle, and Shakespeare's contemporary Thomas Campion, whose songs are ideal vehicles for the compact power and understated humor of soprano Shannon Mercer. Her sound is complemented nicely by that of Masques' viols and violins, led by keyboardist Olivier Fortin. The group plays with that dry-yet-enthusiastic quality that brings Purcell's music into sharp relief, and the musicianship throughout shows the period instruments involved at their best.
And the liner notes, though miserably designed with blocks of screaming capital letters and lots of dark gray print on black backgrounds (apparently they don't have the death penalty for this in Canada yet), back up the overall conception of the program by stressing England's piecemeal adaptation of Continental trends into its distinctive island musical culture. Masques is a hot new presence on the early music scene, and promoters ought to get these charismatic young people out on the road early and often. The sound, recorded at the Saint-Augustin de Mirabel Church in Montreal, is as sharp and sparkling as Quebec snow on a cold, clear day.