CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Essential Purcell

by: Henry Purcell, New College Choir Oxford, King's Consort, Robert King, Roy Goodman, Charles Daniels, John Mark Ainsley, James Bowman, Peter Buckoke, Jane Coe, Rogers Covey-Crump, Gillian Fisher, Michael George, Miles Golding, Jane Norman, Barbara Bonney, Mark Caudle, William Carter, King's Consort Choir, Helen Gough, Paul Nicholson, Angela East, Barry Guy, Tessa Bonner, Jerome Finnis, Rupert Bawden, Lucy Howard, Richard Campbell, Susan Addison, James O'Donnell, Stephen Saunders

Release Date April 10, 1995
"O Fair Cedaria..." is a gorgeous song and yet this is the only cd recording of this incredible work.
The other song which deserves fame is "The Sparrow and the Gentle Dove." There is so much feeling, emotion and musical development in this song that it really is one my personal favorites. Its interpretation here is beyond beautiful.
If you've never heard these songs be ready to add them to your list of favorite Purcell songs.

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

The Complete Odes and Welcome Songs of Henry Purcell / King's Consort

by: Henry Purcell, Robert King, John Mark Ainsley, James Bowman, Tessa Bonner, Michael Chance, Charles Daniels, Gillian Fisher, Nicholas Brady, New College Choir Oxford, Rogers Covey-Crump, Michael George, Robert Evans

Release Date September 01, 1993
First class performances by the Kings Consort and recordings by Hyperion. The Kings Consort employs the best singers and players to undertake this ambitious project, and the results are stunning. Having personally sung many of the pieces featured, I know how difficult it is to make the perfect performance. The Kings Consort comes close in this collection - well done. Excellent value for 9 CDs

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Bach: St. John Passion; Mass in B Minor; Easter Oratorio; Ascension Oratorio

from: EMI Classics

Release Date December 23, 2002
When I purchased this 5-disc set by Andrew Parrot, I had failed to notice that this recording is at the minimum-setting of Bach recordings. No choir, but one individual voice per vocal part. Now normally, I like a nice big full choir sound, so before listening I had some doubts as to this recording would appeal to me.
Well, I must say, now that I've listened to it a couple of times, it's really a wonderfully pure effect, and I really DO like it. The sound isn't bleak at all, and at times the four interacting voices do sound like a small choir. I really do not know what Bach's original intentions were, but this recording is really a joy to listen to, and that's what counts most for me.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Byrd: Consort and Keyboard Music; Songs and Anthems

from: Naxos

Release Date October 04, 1994
This CD has a mixture of pieces that would have been performed in a domestic setting, from secular/devotional songs to verse anthems, virginal music and viol consort. Many of the vocal pieces are found in Byrd's "Songs of Sundry Natures." I particularly enjoyed the verse anthems 'Have Mercy Upon Me, O God' and especially 'Christ Rising Again' which is probably the finest recording of that well-known anthem that I've ever heard. Red Byrd captures the domestic nature of these pieces, which is nothing like the typical ethereal cathedral boy soprano/Tallis Scholars type of performance that you would normally hear. They have a very earthy sound and the viol consort plays quite energetically. I also am a big fan of historical pronunciation which they use. And of ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Palestrina 400 Collection

by: Palestrina, Phillips, Tallis Scholars

Release Date November 30, 1993
This CD has a mixture of pieces that would have been performed in a domestic setting, from secular/devotional songs to verse anthems, virginal music and viol consort. Many of the vocal pieces are found in Byrd's "Songs of Sundry Natures." I particularly enjoyed the verse anthems 'Have Mercy Upon Me, O God' and especially 'Christ Rising Again' which is probably the finest recording of that well-known anthem that I've ever heard. Red Byrd captures the domestic nature of these pieces, which is nothing like the typical ethereal cathedral boy soprano/Tallis Scholars type of performance that you would normally hear. They have a very earthy sound and the viol consort plays quite energetically. I also am a big fan of historical pronunciation which they use. And of ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Monteverdi: Vespers

from: Archiv Produktion

Release Date November 14, 2006
This CD has a mixture of pieces that would have been performed in a domestic setting, from secular/devotional songs to verse anthems, virginal music and viol consort. Many of the vocal pieces are found in Byrd's "Songs of Sundry Natures." I particularly enjoyed the verse anthems 'Have Mercy Upon Me, O God' and especially 'Christ Rising Again' which is probably the finest recording of that well-known anthem that I've ever heard. Red Byrd captures the domestic nature of these pieces, which is nothing like the typical ethereal cathedral boy soprano/Tallis Scholars type of performance that you would normally hear. They have a very earthy sound and the viol consort plays quite energetically. I also am a big fan of historical pronunciation which they use. And of ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Purcell - Hail! bright Cecilia · Who can from joy refrain? / Fisher · Bonner · Bowman · Covey-Crump · Ainsley · George · Keenlyside · Choir of New College, Oxford · The King's Consort · King

by: Henry Purcell, Robert King, James Bowman, Simon Keenlyside, The King's Consort, Oxford Choir of New College, John Mark Ainsley, Gillian Fisher, Rogers Covey-Crump, Tessa Bonner Michael George

Release Date November 16, 1993
This CD is actually Volume 2 of Purcell Complete Odes and Welcome Songs. The ode Who can from joy refrain is not very well known. It was Purcell's last ode, written shortly before his death. The final movement, alternating vocal and instrumental segments, is a true signature of a genius. The other ode on this disc - Hail! Bright Cecilia - is one of Purcell's most famous compositions and justifiably so. It contains a number of astonishingly beautiful vocal airs and an equally astonishing number of compositional devices (such as ground bass, sarabande, minuet, passacaglia, and even vocal embellishments written out by the composer himself). Unlike most of his other odes, Hail! Bright Cecilia was probably intended for a large group of performers. For ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

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 9
Average Rating:

Songs Of Ecstasy And Devotion From A 17th Century Italian Convent - Vizzana / King, Musica Secreta

by: Tessa Bonner, Mary Nichols, John Toll, David Miller, Paula Chateauneuf

Release Date February 23, 1999
The vocal ensemble and period-instrument accompanists of Musica Secreta perform vocal works from Componimenti Musicali by the Italian nun and composer Lucrezia Vizzana (1590-1662).

"Vizzana's Componimenti musicali is a collection of devotional motets and spiritual love songs - some addressing Jesus in the quasi-erotic, perfumed language reminiscent of the Song of Songs, others in praise of music. Vizzana's vocal lines, with their surging ecstatic melismas and rhetorical gestures, are appropriately honeyed, and at its best this music could pass for Monteverdi or Barbara Strozzi. ... Musica Secreta specialises in the 'secret music' written by or for women in the 17th century. There is no doubt about the integrity and intelligence of its performances, and the sound ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte

from: Angel Records

Release Date November 08, 1991
Norrington's conducting, in this 1990 recording, runs the gamut from fast to really fast. If you don't mind the fleet tempi, you will find that his direction is dramatic, well nuanced, with attractive phrasing and good balance. There is lots of very well done dialog and sound effects. The chorus, various women, armored men, boys, priests etc. are all much better than average.
Tamino has been recorded by a number of elegant singers (Wunderlich, Simoneau, Dermota, Haefliger, and Blochwitz). I find Anthony Rolfe Johnson's singing in no way inferior to theirs. He has an attractive voice, and sings with feeling, employing nuanced phrasing and pleasant legato. The Papageno, Andreas Schmidt, has a warm mid-range baritone voice; he also sings with feeling, while not exhibiting ... Read More: