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1.Essential Purcell by: Henry Purcell, New College Choir Oxford, King's Consort, Robert King, Roy Goodman, Charles Daniels, John Mark Ainsley, James Bowman, Peter Buckoke, Jane Coe, Rogers Covey-Crump, Gillian Fisher, Michael George, Miles Golding, Jane Norman, Barbara Bonney, Mark Caudle, William Carter, King's Consort Choir, Helen Gough, Paul Nicholson, Angela East, Barry Guy, Tessa Bonner, Jerome Finnis, Rupert Bawden, Lucy Howard, Richard Campbell, Susan Addison, James O'Donnell, Stephen Saunders April 10, 1995
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $12.98 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $8.97 You Save: $4.01 (31%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $5.00
Seriously, whether if you have no idea exactly what kind of composer Purcell was, or only plan to buy only one CD of his music (God forbid!), this record will knock you off, in a very pleasant and surprising way. I don't like to write superlatives, but this CD has unanimously 5 stars with non-ceasing praises, and guess what: it is THAT good. So good that is gives a good case for few of those who believes that Purcell was a greater composer than Handel or even Bach! Just listen to "Vouchsafe, O Lord, To Keep Us This Day" (second last track) and be awed; it is comparable to one of the best of Bach's cantata's single movement. If you truly like good music, you cannot afford to NOT have this CD: you will thank me and other reviewers here later, GUARANTIED. Have a nice day.

2.Byrd: Consort and Keyboard Music; Songs and Anthems from: Naxos October 04, 1994
Average Rating: >>More Details		Off The Bookshelf's Price: $8.99 Prices subject to change. Used Price: $4.98
This CD has a mixture of pieces that would have been performed in a domestic setting, from secular/devotional songs to verse anthems, virginal music and viol consort. Many of the vocal pieces are found in Byrd's "Songs of Sundry Natures." I particularly enjoyed the verse anthems 'Have Mercy Upon Me, O God' and especially 'Christ Rising Again' which is probably the finest recording of that well-known anthem that I've ever heard. Red Byrd captures the domestic nature of these pieces, which is nothing like the typical ethereal cathedral boy soprano/Tallis Scholars type of performance that you would normally hear. They have a very earthy sound and the viol consort plays quite energetically. I also am a big fan of historical pronunciation which they use. And of course I can never get enough of Caroline ... Read More

3.Venetian Vespers (Monteverdi * Rigatti * Grandi * Cavalli) /Gabrieli Consort & Players * McCreesh by: Research Composer, Giovanni Antonio Rigatti, Alessandro Grandi, Claudio Monteverdi, Adriano Banchieri, Giacomo Finetti, Pietro Francesco Cavalli, Anonymous, Gregorian Chant, Biagio Marini, Gabrieli Consort, Charles Daniels, Paul McCreesh, Alison Wray, Jonathan Best, Tessa Bonner, Angus Smith, Peter Harvey, Robert Horn, Paula Chateauneuf, Timothy Roberts, Susan Hemington Jones, Fred Jacobs, Celia Harper, Charles Pott, Florian Deuter, Gabrieli Players May 11, 1993
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $8.13
This really a fine recording. I bought my copy one sunny Saturday morning in Melbourne in around 1993. I saw it on the shelf and I got my wallet out. I was completely blown away by the music on this disc. Rigatti was a real discovery for me. The use of high falsettists in the chorus and solos is particularly effective and gives us a real insight into the sounds of music in Venice in the early 17th century. I cannot recommend this marvellous recording too highly, it is clearly one of the best made by the Gabrieli Consort, Choir & Players. Great playing from the strings, cornetti and tromboni.

4.Gibbons: Consort and Keyboard Music; Songs and Anthems from: Naxos November 29, 1994
Average Rating: >>More Details		Off The Bookshelf's Price: $8.99 Prices subject to change. Used Price: $4.95
The music of Orlando Gibbons represents the English response to radical changes that stemmed largely from Italy in the age of the birth of opera and a move away from the contrapunctal complexities of previous centuries. Whereas the Italian tended to write gradiose and radical works such of those by Monteverdi, the English tended to write music that was stylistically old-fashioned by the standards of the times, unostentatious with its preference for the sounds of the viol consort that helped make it so intimately poetic and evocative. The madrigal The Silver Swan is one of the most famous examples of English music of its time. We really should rejoice over the fact that Naxos has this superb recording in its catalog. The music making here is first rate in every possible way. Of course Tesser Bonner is ... Read More

5.Monteverdi: Vespers from: Archiv Produktion November 14, 2006
Average Rating: >>More Details		Off The Bookshelf's Price: $33.98 Prices subject to change. Used Price: $9.54
The music of Orlando Gibbons represents the English response to radical changes that stemmed largely from Italy in the age of the birth of opera and a move away from the contrapunctal complexities of previous centuries. Whereas the Italian tended to write gradiose and radical works such of those by Monteverdi, the English tended to write music that was stylistically old-fashioned by the standards of the times, unostentatious with its preference for the sounds of the viol consort that helped make it so intimately poetic and evocative. The madrigal The Silver Swan is one of the most famous examples of English music of its time. We really should rejoice over the fact that Naxos has this superb recording in its catalog. The music making here is first rate in every possible way. Of course Tesser Bonner is ... Read More

6.Purcell: Harmonia Sacra / McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort and Players by: Henry Purcell, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort and Players, Timothy Roberts, Paula Chateauneuf, Susan Hemington Jones, Katherine Philips, Fred Jacobs, Tessa Bonner, Peter Harvey, John Patrick, Christopher Purves, Francis Quarles, Simon Berridge June 13, 1995
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $14.49
This recital features a selection of songs on sacred or moral texts which are by-and-large solemn and penitent. The mood ranges from vigorous and expectant (in Awake ye dead) to downright miserable and tormented (Plung'd in the confines of despair). There is a lot of quasi-recitative in these songs, and the text is very vividly expressed in the word-painting. Strong talent and technique are required to bring these off successfully, and fortunately we have such an ensemble doing that here. All of the singers are extremely gifted musicians, but I will have to single out Charles Daniels who, aside from being one of the best early music tenors ever, is one of the best Purcellian singers as well. Here is a full list just so you know about whom I heap my praise: Sopranos: Tessa Bonner, Susan Hemington ... Read More

7.Purcell: Complete Odes and Welcome Songs Volume 8 - Come ye sons of Art; Welcome, viceregent of the mighty king; Why are all the Muses mute? from: Hyperion UK November 23, 1993
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $6.00
Purcell's Glorious "Come ye sons of Art" is the centerpiece of this CD - one of the most charming works of Western music. The King's Consort has more experience playing and recording Purcell than anyone and always give excellent performances- however, choosing this performance over others in the catalogue is not quite a gimme. While appealing to choral cognoscenti, there are some drawbacks. In particular, the approach to 2 critical pieces from "Come ye sons of Art" - first, "Sound the Trumpet", which substitutes forcefulness and volume for charm and sweetness and color; and second, that slow pace in the beautiful following number, "Strike the Viol" requires more lilt. The Virgin CD - on the Veritas EMI label - finds the performers more successful in both these selections. Of course, if you think ... Read More

8.Bach: St. John Passion; Mass in B Minor; Easter Oratorio; Ascension Oratorio from: EMI Classics December 23, 2002
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $33.98 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $24.97 You Save: $9.01 (27%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $18.99
When I purchased this 5-disc set by Andrew Parrot, I had failed to notice that this recording is at the minimum-setting of Bach recordings. No choir, but one individual voice per vocal part. Now normally, I like a nice big full choir sound, so before listening I had some doubts as to this recording would appeal to me. Well, I must say, now that I've listened to it a couple of times, it's really a wonderfully pure effect, and I really DO like it. The sound isn't bleak at all, and at times the four interacting voices do sound like a small choir. I really do not know what Bach's original intentions were, but this recording is really a joy to listen to, and that's what counts most for me.

9.Sacred Music By Alonso Lobo from: Gimell UK November 11, 1997
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $14.95
The other reviewers give a far better appreciation of the technical merits of the Tallis Scholars' interpretation and other fine points of this recording. Speaking as the peripetatic (sic) amateur who pokes his nose into some of the dustier corners of world music, I find this an excellent find off the beaten trail. It is richer than the medieval plainchant and purer, and more inspiring than the more elaborate baroque and classical works. A very decent find for the roaming listener.

10.Monteverdi - L'Orfeo / Ainsley · Bott · A. King · Bonner · Gooding · Robson · Evans · George · Grant · New London Consort · Pickett by: Claudio Monteverdi, Philip Pickett, John Mark Ainsley, Catherine Bott, Tessa Bonner, Julia Gooding, Christopher Robson, Robert Evans, New London Consort, Simon Grant, Deborah York, Carol Hall, Catherine King, Charles Brett, Robert Jones, Paul Agnew, Alan Ewing, Michael George, Andrew King, Lucy Russell, Mark Levy Pavlo Beznosiuk, Paula Chateauneuf, John Toll, Richard Egarr Tom Finucane January 19, 1993
Average Rating: >>More Details		Used Price: $16.99
The other reviewers give a far better appreciation of the technical merits of the Tallis Scholars' interpretation and other fine points of this recording. Speaking as the peripetatic (sic) amateur who pokes his nose into some of the dustier corners of world music, I find this an excellent find off the beaten trail. It is richer than the medieval plainchant and purer, and more inspiring than the more elaborate baroque and classical works. A very decent find for the roaming listener.

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