What can anyone add to the praise that has deservedly been heaped on Robert King and the King's Consort's 11 discs of the complete sacred music of Vivaldi? Can one add that every single performance is first class -- wonderfully musical, deeply dedicated, and profoundly spiritual? Can one add that every single performer is first class -- absolutely ...
Fans who were blown away by Rachel Podger's acclaimed Bach and Telemann recordings have no doubt waited with baited breath for her to work the same magic on Mozart's sonatas for keyboard and violin. That these sonatas are largely -- though not always -- stacked against the violin is not an impediment to enjoyment, nor is the quirky quality of the ...
In this fourth volume of the Mozart Complete Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin, Baroque violinist Rachel Podger and fortepianist Gary Cooper continue to live up to the exceptional reputation their previous three volumes have earned. Both artists represent the pinnacle of musicianship and technique on their own instruments. Together they perform as ...
Rossini orchestrated his Petite messe solennelle of 1864 in order, he wrote, to stop "Mr. Sax and his saxophones" and "Mr. Berlioz with other giants from the modern orchestra" from stepping in. Nevertheless, he is said to have preferred the work's original version, for eight choral singers, four soloists, two pianos, and a harmonium. Various ...
The Sixteen's version of Ein Deutsches Requiem follows a growing trend of recording the piece in its arrangement for piano duet rather than with the original orchestral accompaniment. Brahms made the arrangement himself to ensure the Requiem's broader dissemination, making it accessible for amateur choral societies. While it was purely a pragmatic ...
The sublime Missa pro defunctis (1605) of Tomás Luis de Victoria has long been a central work in The Sixteen's repertoire; indeed, this ensemble's number was based on the 16 singers -- 12 men, 4 boys -- of the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales, which Victoria probably used for his own performances of the Requiem. But director Harry Christophers ...
You know you're in audiophile territory when an album's credits list the provider of audio cable, and even the specific model involved. Heard on an ordinary CD player, the level of detail captured in this recording is startling (but never overbearing). And one can only guess at the sonic riches available to anyone with a Super Audio CD player. ...
While we may conceptually think of a symphony as a composition for a large number of musicians, such was not the case when Haydn, the so-called "Father of the Symphony," composed the majority of is 104 symphonies. Rather, his symphonies were composed for the smaller number of musicians (generally no more than two to a part) that were available to ...
The stated "following the path of the trio sonata" concept of this album is a good one, for the journey leading from the Baroque trio sonata to the Classical string quartet is an intriguing one, with detours leading to most of Europe's musical capitals. Unfortunately, this disc falls wide of the mark in terms of delivering what it promises, ...
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