Classical Music

DUFAY / COMPERE / ARNOLD DE LANTINS: Songs and Dances from t

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

AVE MATER, O MARIA!

The Beloved Son: A Celebration of Faith in His Name - This recording is part of a series illuminating the life of Jesus through the exquisite music of Gregorian chant. In this series, well-known pieces alternate with brief antiphons to show the path of Christ's life. In addition, chant-based organ pieces form a frame around each volume in the series. This particular volume, The Beloved Son, celebrates the public life and ministry of Christ through Gregorian chant.

V 28: MUSICA CLAROMONTANA

V 42: MUSICA CLAROMONTANA

Classical Music

This album includes the moving Gregorian chants and prayers for the night before Jesus' Passion, when he gave the "mandate" to love one another as he has loved us. It includes Ubi caritas and Pange Lingua. This recording reflects the unmatched authenticity which characterizes the exquisitely gracious and moving performances of Gregorian chant by the Monks of Solesmes. "Paraclete Press offers a superb list of outstanding Christian music which is magnificently performed by the monks of Solesmes." (Reviewer's Bookwatch) "Setting the standard for Gregorian performance." (American Record Guide) In the late 19th century Pope Leo XIII charged the Abbey of Solesmes with the restoration and preservation of Gregorian Chant according to the original 10th-11th century manuscripts. The care and zeal with which the monks undertook this mission quickly extended the Abbey's influence beyond Europe.

"This splendid disc would make an ideal introduction to Russian Orthodox choral music for first-time listeners...There is no doubt of the fervent faith and commitment of the performers, which is convincingly transmitted by the high-definition recording."
—John Miller, SA-CD.net

"With performances as splendid as this, the Liturgy [Tchaikovsky] is likely to gain more of an audience in the West. The recording was made in the Church of the Transfiguration...and the gentle, warm reverberation seems perfectly suited to the program."
—Michael Cameron, Fanfare
"One of the successes of the Gloriae Dei Cantores in the field of sacred music is not undue attention to ancient performance practices or other such scholarly pursuits, but instead a love of and commitment to the spirit of the music as reflected in the spiritual intent of the composer. Their ability to migrate from one genre to the other with nary a wink and a nod is something quite phenomenal in this day and age...this spacious and well-balanced Super Audio sound adds a dimension of projection and sonic splendor that only doubles the value of this already much-desirable disc. Highest recommendation!"
—Steven Ritter, Audiophile Audition

Classical Music

ALFONSO X: Cantigas

Tilting at windmills. The long-suffering Sancho Panza. Sighs of love for Dulcinea. The familiar and fanciful themes of the Don Quixote legend are brought to life by Apollo’s Fire in Telemann’s imaginative portrayal. The Don Quixote Suite sits alongside other suites and concertos by the composer that reveal his cosmopolitan air and whimsical nature.



REVIEW:

Avie deserves credit for spotting this 2002 Koch International label disc and putting it back into circulation once again, as it remains a sterling release. The Cleveland-based Baroque orchestra Apollo's Fire and conductor Jeannette Sorrell pick a program that shows exactly why Telemann was so popular in his own day. They apply just the right level of broad gesture to the two representational suites, which reflect their subjects but are in no way overdone. A wonderful release that holds up to repeated hearings.

– All Music Guide

New York’s leading early music ensemble Tenet presents The Secret Lover, a program that celebrates music by, for, and about women and pays tribute to the 17th century Concerto delle donne, a trio of extraordinarily gifted professional female singers who were renowned for their performances in the courts of the late Italian Renaissance. Three of Tenet’s own leading ladies – sopranos Jolle Greenleaf and Molly Quinn, and mezzo-soprano Virginia Warnken – honor the spirit of these pioneering women with a recording featuring solos and trios that weave a story thread to create a musical portrayal of three women and their complex emotional lives. As a 21st century tribute, Tenet has commissioned a new work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw, which they perform alongside music by Caccini, Rossi, Strozzi and others.

“The success of Gregorian chant in the past century, and the centered richness of prayer it brings to all of us, is almost singularly due to the herculean efforts of the Benedictine Monks of Solesmes, France.”
—New Liturgical Movement

“The music is exceptionally inviting, engaging listeners’ ears with beauty and elevating their thoughts no matter what their spiritual or religious beliefs and doctrines may be.”
—TransCentury Communications
“The most famous and ‘authentic’ recordings of Gregorian chant for generations have been those made by the Solesmes monks.”      
—The Boston Globe

Classical Music

Chant, is the most peaceful music imaginable. CHANT: MUSIC FOR THE SOUL, is the ultimate in relaxation and stress relief the perfect antidote to our fast-moving modern world. Chant has proven to heal, calm and also give strength; it's power is timeless and universal.

a deeply felt, thoughtful and, where needed, highly dramatic interpretation of an indisputable masterpiece. (Gramophone) "orchestral textures were sensuously coloured, and the vast symphonic structure flawlessly paced and handled. The choral singing, thrilling in it's immediacy and clarity, can only be described as electrifying from start to finish" (The Guardian) "For Davis, Elgar is a European composer, and the links to Wagner are clear... Davis is the star: guiding shaping, enhancing the beauty and the flow." (The Times)

Here, at last, is Hildegard sung by Benedictine nuns... living the same life, breathing the same air, and trying to capture the spirit of their great predecessor... they represent really lovely, rather unusual tones, beautifully sung, and with understanding (� Gramophone) "it seems to me absolutely to catch the spirit of her music: this Vespers disc, sung by the nuns of the Abbey of St Hildegard in Eibingen. (Gramophone Critics' choice 1998)

Vanguard's reissues of Purcell, the composer most closely associated with Alfred Deller... The purity of tone, the extraordinary resonance of lower and middle notes, the technical skill and sensitivity of his singing all remain... Stylish playing by George Malcolm and others (including young Neville Marriner)... celebrated not only Deller himself but his generation who did so much to bring Purcell out to reveal his genius (Gramophone)

it is no good having lewd words one cannot hear... so full marks for the City Waites and their swinging dialect style... items are sometimes accompanied, sometimes not, and this nicely provides contrast, but they are made into lively entertainments (Penguin Guide 3*) "a taste of the broadside ballad culture which pervaded the Restoration... The Maid's Complaint is a remarkably spontaneous scene, led by soprano Lucie Skeaping complete with a bunch of drunks who join in, late... Good fun but not very clean!" (Gramophone) "good diction allows particular clarity" (MusicWeb)

Classical Music

Classical Music