Bach’s cantata BWV 199 begins “My heart swims in blood/The results of my sins/Transform me into a monster,” and ends, “And through my grief and pain/No longer am I excluded/From His bliss or His heart.” Serious, pious, introspective stuff, indeed, and this recording, in superb sound, features the lamented Lorraine Hunt Lieberson performing the cantata live in Los Angeles in 2003.

The disc’s brief playing time (the cantata takes just 28 minutes) should not put you off: there is a lifetime of great and deep music-making here. Lieberson’s flawless tone, utterly even and capable of a dozen shades of dynamics and colors, along with her almost uncanny ability to convey feelings as rich as those expressed here, turns this half hour into an almost intimate experience, as if one were hearing the confession of a dear friend or a dear soul. Her simplicity is epic, to coin an oxymoron; she can drive one to tears. I’m unaccustomed to gushing like this, and my connection with devout anything, let alone Christianity, is less than tenuous, but I was stunned by the beauty of the singing, playing, and sincerity and so will you be. It’s like listening to the truth.

A quick, sharp performance of Bach’s Fourth Brandenburg serves as a curtain-raiser. The solo violin (Margaret Batjer is the leader and soloist) takes a wild ride in the last movement, and throughout, the performance is brilliant and exhilarating.

-- Robert Levine, ClassicToday.com

This new release is a collection of ethereal and passionate Gregorian chants performed by Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola. The ensemble is made up of women and men who live in the Benedictine tradition and dedicate themselves to the study and performance of Gregorian chant. The three disc set includes The Chants of Mary, The Chants of Angels, and The Chants of the Holy Spirit. Each album is accompanied by full-color art booklets which give full texts and informative historical context to each chant.

"Three of the finest chant CDs have been released by Gloriae Dei Cantores. Be transported to a timeless place of eternal beauty."
—Kansas City Star
Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola has been praised by the New York Times for "expert renditions of Gregorian Chant" and "excellence of interpretation" by Fanfare Magazine. Their daily singing of Gregorian chant brings this vibrant and living form of sung prayer to life in these three stunning SACD's. These ancient chants still speak volumes today in this essential collection by the Schola that sets the example time and again. . . Not even the most seasoned monastic group delivers it better than the Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola.
—American Record Guide (About The Chants of Angels)
"This is yet another superb production from a source that sets the example time and time again. Do delve into the clear, cool waters of Gregorian chant – and this is a perfect place to start."
—Audiophile Audition (About The Chants of Mary)

After Stravaganza d'amore, their superb album of late sixteenth-century Florentine music, Raphaël Pichon and Pygmalion returned to Italy, this time to Mantua. Here they offer us their reading of one of the peaks of sacred music from this period: Monteverdi's Vespers. Revealing like no other interpreters the poignant interiority of these pieces, they bring out to the full their inherent sense of theatre for an overwhelming experience.

While the unifying thread which links these works is that of loss, the underlying focus is an uplifting celebration of life and love. Gabriel Jackson's Requiem combines traditional solemnity with poems which embrace wide-ranging spirituality, resulting in images of light and radiant optimism. Contrasting poignancy of expression is heard in personal tributes from John Tavener and Francis Pott, while Bob Chilcott uses Pachelbel's famous Canon to set Oscar Wilde's Requiescat. Vasari Singers' Great British Anthems (8.572504) was described as 'essential listening' by Gramophone. Founded in 1980, Vasari Singers is among the leading chamber choirs in Britain, performing music ranging from Renaissance to contemporary. The choir performs regularly in London as well as visiting many of England's cathedrals to sing services, with recent trips to Canterbury, Salisbury, Bath and Ripon. The choir and Jeremy Backhouse are deeply committed to contemporary music and have commissioned over twenty works since 2000, including works by Francis Pott and Gabriel Jackson.

Vocal solo and choral arias by Accademia Instrumentale Italiana; Oxford Camerata; Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca under the direction of Diego Fasolis, Bo Holten, Herve Niquet, Antony Pitts, Jeremy Summerly and Sergio Vartolo. Featuring Hildegard of Bingen's O Euchari in leta via and Dieterich Buxtehude's Membra Jesu nostri, BuxWV75: Ie. Ad pedes: Ecce super montes.

The Vasari Singers’ annual carol concerts always provide a warming blend of traditional favourites and less well-known music from all periods and styles. Here, joyous and masterful 16th-century polyphony sits alongside eternally popular Victorian carols, and exquisitely crafted settings by Howells and Walford Davies join works as recent as Gabriel Jackson’s The Christ-child. Bob Chilcott magically superimposes traditional carols with entrancing new material, and no Vasari Christmas would be complete without some close harmony Swingle singing.

Andrew Parrott and his Taverner Consort and Choir honour the 400th anniversary of 16th-century Italian composer Carlo Gesualdo with a reissue of their seminal recording of Tenebrae Responses for Good Friday. Honouring the 400th anniversary of Carlo Gesualdo, the harmonically adventurous and experimental 16th-century Italian composer, Prince of Venosa, Andrew Parrott and his Taverner Consort and Choir offer a newly repackaged reissue of their seminal recording of Tenebae, the composer's final group of sacred madrigals devoted to Good Friday. The Taverner singers navigate Gesualdo's highly symbolic polyphonic structures with idiomatic first-rate performances and incisive scholarship.

Choral elements from Protestant, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and medieval traditions are included in this anthology of anthems and motets, many drawing inspiration from the Psalms. They range from sixteenth-century Germany (Eccard), through the nineteenth-century Anglican tradition of Hanforth, Stainer and Stanford and the twentieth-century Catholicism of Poulenc, to contemporary England (Rose, Tavener, Harvey), Scotland (MacMillan), Australia (Halley) and the USA (Paulus). Previous recordings from the Choir of St John's, Elora have been described as "a real joy" (Gramophone on 8. 557037, Faire is the Heaven), and "world-class... sensational" Psalms for the Soul).

In 2005, Thomas Gropper founded vocal ensemble Arcis Vocalists. Today the group consists of 50 singers who are actively engaged in the Bavarian and Munich concert scene. Following their debut album of Cantatas BWV 131 and 182, they now present Cantatas BWZ 12 and BWV 147.

TAVENER Ex Maria virgine. Birthday Sleep. O Do Not Move. A Nativity. Marienhymne. O Thou Gentle Light. Angels • Timothy Brown, dir; Clare College Cambridge Ch • NAXOS 8.572168 (63:46 Text and Translation)


Two of the selections are first recordings: Ex Maria virgine , the major work at 38 minutes, and Marienhymne . The other works are not widely available, for Birthday Sleep was recorded by Stephen Layton (28:4), A Nativity by Matthew Greenall (not issued over here), and Angels by David Hill (23: 2). I cannot find the first recordings of the other two pieces.


Marienhymne is sung in German, while O Thou Gentle Light is sung in Greek (the ancient hymn Phos hiláron , which Dom Lucien David also set as a neo-Gregorian chant). The earliest work on the program, Angels , dates from 1985.


The major work is a setting of nine age-old texts in Latin or English separated by a refrain, “Ex Maria virgine,” the first movement being repeated at the end. One movement has a Greek refrain, the original of “hail, Mary,” but the first word is pronounced “kay-ray” rather than “ky-ruh.” The composer has a devoted following, so these accomplished performances will delight them.


FANFARE: J. F. Weber

Set in a time of ancient Rome' persecution of the Christians, Handel' late masterpiece Theodora tells of the tragic martyrdom of the heroine and her lover Didymus.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Wunderlich, FRITZ: Historical Recording (1954-1965)

Calmus Ensemble is one of the most successful a cappella ensembles on the international scene. For their new album touched, the singers from Leipzig have chosen songs and lieder from several centuries on themes which never fail to touch our hearts, and have arranged them for their own forces with the utmost skill. What results is a vocal CD in a class of its own: Sting stands alongside Henry Purcell, Michael Jackson next to Adriano Banchieri, and Elton John beside Monty Python. The ensemble describes the concept in the CD booklet as follows: “As far as themes go, nothing whatsoever has changed: love, longing, pain, but also joy, pleasure and exuberance. That which touches our hearts, which moves us, has been convincingly expressed in music since time immemorial. Then as now, songs were one thing above all – a living expression of the soul! In this common ground the boundaries of the two eras of music on this recording become blurred.” We’re offering you the opportunity to contemplate the texts and music of two very different epochs in a new light and from new perspectives. The CD is a must for lovers of a cappella singing! - Carus-Verlag

Drama, surprise, humour and still life - with a bubbling undertone of anarchy. Composer Ib Nørholm (b. 1931) presents us with a delightful twist on Danish nocturne and condensed music drama for two in Tavole per Orfeo. This world premiere recording by soprano Else Torp and guitarist Per Pålsson unfolds as a fascinating testimony to an inspired encounter between words and music and a meeting of strong artistic personalities. Else is a core member of Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices, with whom she has performed around the world.

Classical Music

� The Temple Church Choir gives the world premiere recording of Nico Muhly's Our Present Charter - a brand new fourmovement work commissioned by the choir to celebrate 800 years since the sealing of the Magna Carta. � Directed by Roger Sayer and featuring organist Greg Morris, the recording also features choral works by Parry, Vaughan Williams, Walton, Bairstow, Tavener and Haydn. � The Temple Church Choir, founded 1841, consists of eighteen boy choristers and twelve professional choirmen. � It is still considered to be one of the finest choirs in London, a reputation it quickly gained after it's founding. � The American composer Nico Muhly (b. 1981) received his Masters in Music from the Juilliard School where he studied under Christopher Rouse and John Corigliano. � He also spent several years working for Phillip Glass as a MIDI programmer and editor. � His wide scope of work for soloists, ensembles, and organizations covers multiple genres, including music for film, opera, choral, chamber, orchestral, vocal and electronic forces in solo or combinations there of.

An inspiring sequence of Christmas music ancient and modern, culminating in Britten’s virtuosic choral masterpiece, A Boy Was Born: Paul McCreesh leads the Gabrieli Consort (joined by the Trebles of Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir) in this evocative and contrasting collection of festive works that samples works from the 12th century to the present day.

The international award-winning octet, VOCES8, has established itself at the forefront of British a cappella. Performing a repertoire ranging from Renaissance polyphony to unique Jazz and Pop arrangements, the group has been praised for stunning performance, exquisite singing and creating a sound that spans the entire range of vocal color.

REVIEW:

Voces8 offer polished and well-nigh flawless singing. The tone, however, seems rather ‘white’; frequently I found myself longing for a bit less studied technical perfection and a bit more by way of grit and feeling; much of this disc seems too smooth and effortless.

-- MusicWeb International

CPO's previous release with the soloists and ensembles of the Boston Early Music Festival was awarded two prestigious prizes. The recording of Charpentier’s opera La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers and La Couronne de Fleurs received the Grammy Award for the Best Opera Production in February 2015 and recently won the Klassik-Echo 2015, again for the Best Opera Recording of the Year. Prior to this double success, other productions by cpo and BEMF had been nominated for Gramophone Awards. In the category of the Best Opera Production these were Ariadne by Johann Georg Conradi and Thésée and Psyché by Jean-Baptiste Lully. In addition, Thésée and Psyché received nominations in the category honoring Baroque Vocal Works.

Now the American ensemble joins forces with successful soloists like Aaron Sheehan and Teresa Wakim for our production of Handel’s opera Acis and Galatea in the version of 1718, which was composed for the landed estate of the Earl of Carnarvon and does not recycle music from the earlier version. Both Acis and Galatea and the cantata Sarei troppo felice heard here represent decisive turning points in Handel’s career. The Italian cantata came at the beginning of the one and half decades spent by Handel in the service of patrons. Acis and Galatea marks the highpoint of this phase and therefore, like the cantata before it, clearly renders recognizable the musical means available to him in the private ensembles of his employers. Moreover, Acis and Galatea contains the musical and textual seeds of the English oratorio, which after 1742 completely supplanted opera compositions.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music