Based at Windsor Castle, the members of The Queen’s Six make up half of the Lay Clerks of St George’s Chapel, whose homes lie within the Castle walls. This rare privilege demands the highest musical standards, as they sing regularly for the Royal family at both private and state occasions. In 2018 this included the weddings of Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank, and Prince Harry and Ms Meghan Markle, both held in St George’s Chapel. Most significantly however, it is the familiarity of living and singing together in Chapel every day that lends this group its distinctive closeness and blend, as well as an irresistible informality and charm. Individually, members of The Queen’s Six have appeared in many of the most prestigious vocal ensembles on the circuit, including The Tallis Scholars, Tenebrae, and The Sixteen. Their repertoire extends far beyond the reach of the choir stalls: from austere early chant, florid Renaissance polyphony, lewd madrigals and haunting folk songs to upbeat Jazz and Pop arrangements.
-----
REVIEW:
The Queen's Six do not attempt to outdo the King's Singers' famously intricate arrangements, preferring to steer things back a bit toward the middle of the road. Your reactions to this may depend on your larger ones toward the idea itself, but the execution is solid. The program consists of folk songs of the British Isles, and as the album title suggests, the Queen's Six make sure to put a generous helping of the repertory's greatest hits on the program. Other attractions include the large variety of arrangers, with just a few names repeated; the arrangements are well-chosen such that each one shows distinctive traits, but all fit together generally well.
It would be worth striving towards a style that can combine the highest level of craftsmanship, originality, and high quality with the greatest popularity and folksiness.' – Hanns Eisler. This latest release in Capriccio‘s Hanns Eisler Edition contains songs and chansons from all periods of Eisler’s creative life. It also contains some of the fascinating orchestral suites that he had mostly assembled as adaptations of film scores from the 1930s. Notably, the programme contains the world premiere recording of his incidental music for Die letzte Nacht – the epilogue to Karl Kraus‘ monumental, satirical work The Last Days of Mankind. The mastermind behind this project was the great composer, conductor, and chansonnier HK Gruber, arguably one of the greatest authorities on Eisler.
Mendelssohn's incidental music left it's mark on his contemporaries with it's virtuosity, it's subtle orchestration and it's evocative power. Here, Pablo Heras-Casado, the Freiburger Barockorchester and the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin present the music absolutely complete, flanked by Max Urlacher as a wonderfully ebullient narrator. Their historically informed interpretation of A Midsummer Night's Dream offers a delightful plunge into this world of dreams and enchantment.
The multiple award-winning bass-baritone Sebastian Naglatzki and the versatile pianist Ana Miceva bring together on their new GENUIN album the last song compositions of Franz Schubert, Hugo Wolf, Johannes Brahms, and Maurice Ravel. These works reflect themes such as farewell, transience, and the search for ultimate truths - captured in music with poignancy and deep feeling. The imaginatively conceived album of the exceptional singer and his expressive piano partner is both a musical retrospective and an audible legacy from four great masters of music history.
Spohr: Die letzten Dinge / Bernius, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen
Carus
CD
$20.99Oct 14, 2014
The “The Last Judgment” by Louis Spohr is one of the most important oratorios of the early 19th c. Accompanied recitatives, short contrapuntal solos and above all great choruses characterize the musical structure. Contrary to other apocalyptic compositions, Spohr focuses on a positive, comforting fundamental attitude of joyful anticipation, making manifest the praise of God and the portrayal of omnipotence, kindness and righteousness. Frieder Bernius and the Stuttgart Chamber Choir together with the Bremen Chamber Philharmonic present the oratorio on this recording.
TOD UND VERKLDRUNG / VIER LETZTE LIEDER / FOUR LAS
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON
Vinyl
$45.79Apr 12, 2024
THE ORIGINAL SOURCE is a new series of celebrated albums reissued on vinyl. The renowned Berlin-based Emil Berliner Studios are remastering 4-track recordings from the 1970s, using their own cutting-edge and 100% pure analogue techniques (AAA) to create versions of the highest possible audio quality. More clarity, more details and a better frequency response, the highest possible audiophile quality which gives listeners the chance to enjoy this repertoire like never before. LP pressed on 180g virgin vinyl at Optimal Media.
