CD-Charts Position 1
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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 2
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Carissimi: Jepthe; Jonas; Judicium

from: Elektra / Wea

Release Date February 03, 1992
Exquisite recordings of these three early 'oratorios' by Carissimi. I put oratorio in scare quotes just in case visions of Handel spring up. Indeed, even comparing Carissimi's works with his, rough (in more ways than one!), contemporary, Stradella, would be mistaken as none of the works here last more than half an hour. Indeed, in his masterful Jepthe, the narrative is essentially one compressed scene from the (paraphrased) Biblical text. Which gives it all a wonderful concentration, making the lament of Jepthe's daughter ('Plorate colles') all the more emotionally crushing.

Look about also for the two Naxos cds of Carrisimi.

CD-Charts Position 3
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Christmas Mass in Rome

from: Polygram Records

Release Date November 09, 1993
This is one the very best Gabrieli consort discs and almost impossible to get hold of. If you get an opportunity grab it and make a back up. The Palestrina on the disc is mind-blowing. A totally McCreeshian take on a usually serenely, gently sung composer. The performance is polar opposite to for example, the sublime Pro Cantione Antiqua discs. In particular the Kyrie, Gloria and Credo are breathtaking, the rest of the mass, still brilliant is less impressive. McCreesh succeeds in making Palestrina not just beautiful, but exciting. The plainchant on the disc is of the very best sort that McCreesh can produce, with perfect acoustics. The Victoria motets are truly magnificent and compete with Palestrina's mass. The canzone are not particularly ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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Schütz: Christmas Vespers / McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort and Players

by: Gregorian Chant, Heinrich Schutz, Gabrieli Consort and Players, Paul McCreesh, Charles Daniels, Neal Davies, Andrew Carwood, Susan Hemington Jones, Charles Pott, Simon Grant, Robert Horn, James Johnstone, Kristian Olesen, Choir of Roskilde Cathedral

Release Date October 19, 1999
First of all, I was enthralled by the singing and the organ sound: very rich and musical in every way. The congregational singing, specifically, is superb, and the CD is worth buying for everything that comes before and after the Christmas Historia.

The historia, though, is an edition that is disconcerting to me. Perhaps I have heard versions that are less "authentic" than this one, but there are enough differences between the McCreesh and other versions I have heard that I must assume others will be affected the same way.

CD-Charts Position 5
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Handel: Saul

from: Archiv Produktion

Release Date April 13, 2004
From the very start you know you are entering a masterpiece performed by one of the greatest living conductors. First the use of instruments. Each one has a particular part to play and, even in the most unified tuttis of the orchestra, each instrument plays its role and can be followed faithfully without getting lost in some kind of blended melting pot. This is admirable from the opening notes right on till the end. Then Handel uses voices in a very creative way too. David is an alto, which is normal in the 18th century since he is the hero and no one is going to cast a shadow on him. The alliance of this alto with the tenor Jonathan or the soprano Michal, or even the antagonistic soprano Merab, leads to giving each voice a real dramatic depth. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
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Purcell: Hail, Bright Cecilia!

from: Polygram Records

Release Date October 17, 1995
As well as the St Cecilia ode this disc contains two superb biblical 'verse anthems', the second ending with a lovely and most unusual quiet Alleluia. The disc is thus excellent value in terms of the amount of music provided, the performances have authority and scholarship stamped all over them, the performers are totally accomplished professionals in music of this period and the recorded sound is very good in a discreet way. The piece I am having difficulty with is the Ode itself, or at least its opening number. I was not expecting Handelian extroversion from Purcell, but what is the connexion between minor-key harmonies and a solemn bass solo on the one hand and on the other the sentiment 'Hail bright Cecilia, fill ev'ry heart/With love of thee...' ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
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Purcell: Ode for St. Cecilia's Day

from: Archiv Produktion

Release Date October 08, 2002
As well as the St Cecilia ode this disc contains two superb biblical 'verse anthems', the second ending with a lovely and most unusual quiet Alleluia. The disc is thus excellent value in terms of the amount of music provided, the performances have authority and scholarship stamped all over them, the performers are totally accomplished professionals in music of this period and the recorded sound is very good in a discreet way. The piece I am having difficulty with is the Ode itself, or at least its opening number. I was not expecting Handelian extroversion from Purcell, but what is the connexion between minor-key harmonies and a solemn bass solo on the one hand and on the other the sentiment 'Hail bright Cecilia, fill ev'ry heart/With love of thee...' ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
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Venice Preserved

from: Gaudeamus

Release Date December 21, 1993
As well as the St Cecilia ode this disc contains two superb biblical 'verse anthems', the second ending with a lovely and most unusual quiet Alleluia. The disc is thus excellent value in terms of the amount of music provided, the performances have authority and scholarship stamped all over them, the performers are totally accomplished professionals in music of this period and the recorded sound is very good in a discreet way. The piece I am having difficulty with is the Ode itself, or at least its opening number. I was not expecting Handelian extroversion from Purcell, but what is the connexion between minor-key harmonies and a solemn bass solo on the one hand and on the other the sentiment 'Hail bright Cecilia, fill ev'ry heart/With love of thee...' ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
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Monteverdi: Vespers

from: Archiv Produktion

Release Date November 14, 2006
As well as the St Cecilia ode this disc contains two superb biblical 'verse anthems', the second ending with a lovely and most unusual quiet Alleluia. The disc is thus excellent value in terms of the amount of music provided, the performances have authority and scholarship stamped all over them, the performers are totally accomplished professionals in music of this period and the recorded sound is very good in a discreet way. The piece I am having difficulty with is the Ode itself, or at least its opening number. I was not expecting Handelian extroversion from Purcell, but what is the connexion between minor-key harmonies and a solemn bass solo on the one hand and on the other the sentiment 'Hail bright Cecilia, fill ev'ry heart/With love of thee...' ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
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Heinichen: Dresden Concerti Highlights

from: Polygram Records

Release Date March 15, 1994
As well as the St Cecilia ode this disc contains two superb biblical 'verse anthems', the second ending with a lovely and most unusual quiet Alleluia. The disc is thus excellent value in terms of the amount of music provided, the performances have authority and scholarship stamped all over them, the performers are totally accomplished professionals in music of this period and the recorded sound is very good in a discreet way. The piece I am having difficulty with is the Ode itself, or at least its opening number. I was not expecting Handelian extroversion from Purcell, but what is the connexion between minor-key harmonies and a solemn bass solo on the one hand and on the other the sentiment 'Hail bright Cecilia, fill ev'ry heart/With love of thee...' ... Read More: