CD-Charts Position 1
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Cecilia Bartoli - If You Love Me (Se tu m'ami ), 18th-Century Italian Songs

by: Alessandro Scarlatti, Antonio Caldara, Antonio Lotti, Antonio Cesti, Giovanni Paisiello, Anonymous, Benedetto Marcello, Giuseppe Giordani, Giulio Caccini, Alessandro Parisotti, Pietro Francesco Cavalli, Antonio Vivaldi, Giacomo Carissimi, Cecilia Bartoli, György Fischer

Release Date October 13, 1992
Cecilia Bartoli may not be the finest mezzo-soprano extant but few would doubt her exceptional artistry and professionalism. In "Se tu m'ami", she transforms simple, even primitive, melodies into beautiful, dare I say, rapturous arias, in the finest bel canto tradition. I now understand why Paisiello was a favourite of Buonaparte and why I should now acknowledge Vivaldi for his considerable versatility and creativity. The disc now occupies a top shelf in my CD rack. Bravissimo Cecilia.

CD-Charts Position 2
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Philippe Jaroussky - Beata Vergine

from: EMI Classics

Release Date May 15, 2006
Philippe Jaroussky teams up with Ensemble Artaserse to produce a jewel of an album of Italian Baroque motets to the Virgin Mary. Each one of these tracks is music rarely performed today. Listening is like finding a coin unexpectedly. Whether you think a certain piece is a penny, a nickel, a quarter or a golden doubloon may depend on ones mood, but it's nice to think that all these coins from the 17th century have been gathered up and kept safe for future ages. Few things are lovelier than a good countertenor voice floating over the violins. Philippe Jaroussky may be one of the great ones; he sounds like a fine boy soprano, but with the control and fire of an adult. If I said he sounded like crystal it wouldn't convey the tenderness of rose petals. The ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
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Cavalli - Arias and Duets from Didone · Egisto · Ormindo · Giasone · Calisto

from: Naxos

Release Date February 22, 2005
This recording features arias, duets and some instrumental sinfonias and ritornello from five of Francesco Cavalli's operas: Didone (1641), Egisto (1643), Ormindo (1644), Giasone (1649) and La Calisto (1651).
Five singers are featured and all bring something to this music. In particular, I liked the voice of the countertenor, Gianluca Belfiori Doro. He has a rather attractive and strong sounding alto voice. The baritone, Roberto Abbondanza, is in excellent voice and the tenor, Mario Cecchetti, and the two women, Gloria Banditelli (mezzo-soprano) and Rosita Frisani (soprano) sing well.

The instrumental ensemble, Mediterraneo Concento, features period instruments - strings, brass and basso continuo. I hope I hear more from this ensemble soon.
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CD-Charts Position 4
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Imperial Fanfares

from: Naxos

Release Date July 15, 2003
Even though this was recorded just a couple of years ago the sound quality is not that good. It sounds like it was recorded in the 70s and outside with the microphones far away. There is nothing too deep here and all the fanfares are fairly short, just lasting a few seconds it seems. I got tired of this pretty quickly and it doesn't stand up to repeated listenings and to be honest a lot of the stuff on here sounds the same. The performances are ok, but nothing special, they sound kind of flat, and they don't really do anything to make this sound exciting like it should. Maybe if the performance and sound was better I would of enjoyed this more.

CD-Charts Position 5
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Venetian Vespers (Monteverdi * Rigatti * Grandi * Cavalli) /Gabrieli Consort & Players * McCreesh

by: Research Composer, Giovanni Antonio Rigatti, Alessandro Grandi, Claudio Monteverdi, Adriano Banchieri, Giacomo Finetti, Pietro Francesco Cavalli, Anonymous, Gregorian Chant, Biagio Marini, Gabrieli Consort, Charles Daniels, Paul McCreesh, Alison Wray, Jonathan Best, Tessa Bonner, Angus Smith, Peter Harvey, Robert Horn, Paula Chateauneuf, Timothy Roberts, Susan Hemington Jones, Fred Jacobs, Celia Harper, Charles Pott, Florian Deuter, Gabrieli Players

Release Date May 11, 1993
This really a fine recording. I bought my copy one sunny Saturday morning in Melbourne in around 1993. I saw it on the shelf and I got my wallet out. I was completely blown away by the music on this disc. Rigatti was a real discovery for me.

The use of high falsettists in the chorus and solos is particularly effective and gives us a real insight into the sounds of music in Venice in the early 17th century.

I cannot recommend this marvellous recording too highly, it is clearly one of the best made by the Gabrieli Consort, Choir & Players.

Great playing from the strings, cornetti and tromboni.

CD-Charts Position 6
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Cavalli: Messa Concertata

from: Hyperion UK

Release Date April 12, 2005
I must thank the folks at the Rough Guide or I never would have heard about this Messa Concertata for eight voices , two violins, bass violin , 3 trombones , two theorbos and organ that is perfectly performed by the singers and instrumentalists in a church similar in size to the one where is most premiered in Venice. Although he was influenced by Monteverdi, Cavalli is most himself during the slower sections or the mass like during a duet between tenor and bass during the Credo that is heart rending, and during several soprano solos throughout the mass that brought tears to my eyes.
This disc contains O Quam suavis for soprano and organ , a prayer for the holy virgin that and the o bone Jesus for soprano and tenor which were both quite beautiful. Highly recommended ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
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Dame Janet Baker Philips and Decca Recordings, 1961-1979 (Limited Edition)

by: Janet Baker, John Shirley-Quirk, Graham Sheen, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Hector Berlioz, Giovanni Bononcini, Benjamin Britten, Giulio Caccini, Antonio Caldara

Release Date November 25, 2003
For those of us who grew up on Janet Baker's recordings (and were lucky enough to hear her "live" as well), the sound of her voice and her singular artstic personality - British restraint coupled with fierce emotional and spiritual commitment - are indelibly imprinted in our minds and hearts. The closest current equivalent is Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, another superb artist who has charted her own course, and not surprisingly there is some overlap of repertoire, in the music of J.S. Bach, of course, but also Berlioz's Didon and Beatrice, Handel's Ariodante and Britten's Phaedra (composed for Baker).
This wonderful compilation is complementary to EMI's 2-CD "The Very Best of Janet Baker" -- no overlap of repertoire whatsoever. Unlike that set, which focused ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
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Aria: The Finest Sacred & Secular Arias from 1600 to 1800

from: Harmonia Mundi Fr.

Release Date February 08, 2005
Nearly 4 hours of Baroque and Classical arias on 3 CDs. Like everything else I've heard on the Harmonia Mundi label, the music on these discs is high quality aesthetically and in recording quality. This gem-filled set may be of interest to students of music history, and certainly to anyone who loves aria.

CD-Charts Position 9
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Cavalli - La Calisto / Bayo, Lippi, Keenlyside, Pushee, Ragon, Concerto Vocale, Jacobs

by: Francesco Cavalli, René Jacobs, Maria Bayo, Marcello Lippi, Simon Keenlyside, Graham Pushee, Alessandra Mantovani, Gilles Ragon

Release Date March 21, 1995
La Calisto is truly a masterpiece and this is revealed in Jacobs recording, which shows very good taste and excellent singers. Nevertheless, it is not Cavalli's score. Venetian opera was normally written for voices and continuo with seldom use of violins in ritornelli and a few accompagnati arias. Jacobs, as Leppard did twenty years earlier, seems not to trust Cavalli's music because he has completely re-orchestrated the original score. The result does not sound like Venetian opera at all. It is more or less like Leppard with original instruments and cleaner voices. I think time has arrived to offer to the listener more rigorous reconstructions of early music.

CD-Charts Position 10
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Pathways of Baroque Music - Secular Vocal Music

from: Harmonia Mundi Fr.

Release Date December 09, 1997
I picked this up in a bargain bin for a song and counted my blessings! I am a Baroque music fiend, with a large collection of Harmonia Mundi discs, but up until now I hadn't purchased any HM box sets. Many of my favourite Harmonia Mundi artists are featured on the five discs: Andreas Scholl, Alfred Deller, Dominique Visse, Rene Jacobs, Bernarda Fink, and Jennifer Larmore. Each disc covers a different theme: The Madrigal (disc one), The Birth of the Opera (disc two), England in the 17th Century, featuring works by Byrd, Dowland, Blow, and Purcell (disc three), A Century of French Opera, which showcases works by Lully, Charpentier, and Rameau (disc four), and The Reign of the Opera Seria, with contributions from Vivaldi, Handel, and Graun (disc five). The only thing I would have wished ... Read More: