Guttler, Ludwig: Trumpet & More

This disc combines some of Henry Purcell's most powerful masterpieces. Love's Goddess Sure Was Blind, an exuberant tribute to the young Queen Mary, and some of his most eloquent compositions, written for her funeral. Love's Goddess Sure was Blind, written in exuberant and florid style for the birthday of the much loved young Queen Mary ends, extraordinarily, with a reflection on the grief her eventual death would provoke. It was less than six years later that the prophesied mourning became a reality, when, in her early thirties, she succumbed to smallpox. Purcell's eloquent compositions for her funeral are acknowledged as some of his most powerful masterpieces marrying a genuine of expression of grief (Purcell greatly admired the witty, musical Mary) with a characteristic sophistication of style.

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Amour et Mascarade

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Classical Music

Linn Records is thrilled to introduce soprano Rowan Pierce in what promises to be a sensational debut recording. The Cares of Lovers comprises songs from across Purcell's brief career from She loves and she confesses too, one of his very first published pieces (1683), to Sweeter than roses from his final months (1695). Although they all display the same matchless ingenuity and uncanny ability to set English words to music, a highlight includes Tell me, some pitying angel - a triumph of dramatic composition and the equal of any Italian cantata of the period. Since winning the President's Award at the Royal College of Music in 2017, Pierce has won acclaim for her performances at The Barbican, Royal Festival Hall and at the BBC Proms. Her performance in Purcell's The Fairy Queen, with the Academy of Ancient Music, won praise for her 'expressive' (Financial Times) and 'heart-piercing' (The Independent) singing. Richard Egarr and William Carter, two baroque music heavy-weights, join Pierce for this recording, made in Haarlem, Netherlands.

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The Armonico Consert and soloists perform Henry Purcell's evergreen chamber opera Dido & Aeneas, the work based on Virgil's epic, the Aeneid. Armonico Consert is one of the largest and most innovative organizations of it's kind in the UK, existing to inspire audiences with it's unique programs. About Armonico Consert: "... The whole thing seems suffused with light reflected from Manahan Thomas' voice, and Steele-Perkins' effortlessly projected trumpet." (BBC Radio 3 CD review of Let The Bright Seraphim, SIGCD289) "... a disc of unending delight." (Gramophone review of Naked Byrd Two, SIGCD235).

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There are several multi-disc sets featuring Purcell’s complete Ayres for the Theatre, but remarkably few that offer a generous selection on a single disc. Here we have extended suites from Dioclesian, King Arthur, The Fairy Queen, and The Indian Queen. These collections of brief dances and interludes, with most individual numbers lasting less than two minutes, are unfailingly fresh and entertaining, and they are played here with exceptional enthusiasm and verve. The suite from The Fairy Queen is particularly extensive and wide-ranging in its musical material. This release seemed to get somewhat lost in the shuffle when originally released on Sony, appearing and dropping out of sight almost quicker than the shortest number included on the disc itself (33 seconds, if you want to be exact). So it’s great to see it salvaged from the musical wreck that is now Sony/BMG, and reissued on the orchestra’s own label. This initiative deserves success, just as this disc deserves a place in your collection.

— David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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