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5 STAR : PHILIPP HEINRICH ERLEBACH - CANTATAS
24/06/2008
Readers who enjoyed Stylus Phantasticus’ superb album Zeichen in Himmel on Alpha, dedicated to Erlebach’s arias and sonatas (see Craig Zeichner’s review), will welcome this collection of his church cantatas. There are occasional dull patches, especially in the cheerful, celebratory works, but at its frequent best Erlebach’s music is complex, imaginative and profoundly moving. |
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5 STAR : BACH ORGEL-BÜCHLEIN BWV 599-644
17/06/2008
The Czech keyboard player Jaroslav Tùma has recorded extensively and is known for both his performances – notably of J.S. Bach’s music – and his talent as an improviser. This recent recording of the Orgel-Büchlein is certainly a credit to his excellent playing. The Orgel-Büchlein, composed by Bach while he resided in Weimar, consists of 45 chorale preludes which are models of polyphonic writing. |
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5 STAR : ROMARIA. THE DOWLAND PROJECT
10/06/2008
The Dowland Project has been re-imagining early music for some time now, and it has generally seemed to me that the potential for genuine freedom that the idea so obviously contains has never quite been realized. With 'Romaria', however, new territory is broached: it’s a stunning disc, in which the Project’s particular brand of 'crossover' is completely validated. |
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5 STAR : MISSA PURIFICATIONIS BEATAE VIRGINIS MARIAE
21/05/2008
The two works heard on this recording, examples of Jan Dismas Zelenka’s connection with the Princess Elector of Saxony and Queen of Poland Maria Josepha, offer a view into the development of church music at the Dresden court.
Despite its title, the 1733 Missa Purificationis Beatae Virginis Mariae, does not commemorate the Feast of the Purification, but rather celebrates the Princess Elector’s first visit to church after the birth of her son. |
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5 STAR : PHILIPPE VERDELOT - MADRIGALS FOR A TUDOR KING
14/05/2008
This is the first complete recording of the 30 madrigals by Philippe Verdelot as preserved in the Newberry-Oscott partbooks (c1528), thought to have been assembled for Henry VIII. As such, it is self-recommending; that the performances are so good is merely the icing on the cake.
Verdelot (c1480-c1532), a Frenchman who worked in Venice, Rome and Florence, was one of the chief innovators in the realm of the Italian madrigal. |
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5 STAR : MONTEVERDI - FIRE & ASHES
08/05/2008
This recording is quite a treat! The blunt sensuousness depicted on the CD sleeve effectively prepares the listener for the strikingly luscious and constantly varied sound dominating the recording. The opening Sinfonia from Ballo delle ingrate makes it clear that the singers of I Fagiolini are supported by a first-class instrumental ensemble. |
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5 STAR : LA SERENISSIME ET LA SUBLIME PORTE
02/05/2008
Born in Turkey, but trained in France, musicologist and soprano Chimène Seymen is perhaps better placed than anyone to bring a comparative study of 17th-century Ottoman and European music to vivid life on the concert platform. This superb release features live performances from two ensembles, La Turchescha & Cevher i Musiki, both under the artistic direction of Seymen.
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5 STAR : CANTICUM CANTICORUM
25/04/2008
The sacred-erotic poetry of the Song of Songs has attracted many musical settings over the centuries. This anthology focuses on settings from the 16th and 17th centuries, opening with Lassus and Palestrina and closing with Purcell’s My Beloved Spake. In between we are treated to settings by Schütz, Mazzochi, Tomkins and Charpentier. |
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5 STAR : MADAME D’AMOURS
14/04/2008
The keyless, wooden Renaissance transverse flute’s gentle, flexible and yet also penetrating and tangy sound is sometimes heard in mixed wind and string band recordings; but I believe this is almost the only Renaissance flute consort CD since Nancy Hadden and colleagues’ 'Flute Music of the 16th and 17th centuries', recorded in 1988 (Hyperion, CDA66298). |
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5 STAR : OUVERTURES - CONCERTI
29/02/2008
Les Muffatti’s first CD, devoted to Muffat’s Armonico Tributo, deservedly received a rapturous reception from William Yeoman in Goldberg 39. Its second is arguably even more significant, for not only does it confirm the Belgian ensemble as a quite exceptional body, but it also introduces us to some splendid music by a neglected composer. |
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