Matthew Brook
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Special offer. Handel: Samson
RecommendedJoshua Ellicott (tenor), Sophie Bevan(soprano), Fflur Wyn (soprano), Mary Bevan (soprano), Jess Dandy (contralto), Hugo Hymas (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass), Vitali Rozynko (bass-baritone)
Dunedin Consort, John Butt
Butt has created the best Samson ever...These choral forces make for a vibrancy unique among Samson recordings…Butt’s deep grasp of both Handel’s rhetoric and of large-scale structure turns... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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International Classical Music Awards, 2019, Nominee - Baroque Vocal
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Critics' Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2020, Finalist - Choral
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Choral
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Special offer. Bach: Ich habe genug. Cantatas BWV 32, 82 & 106
Joanne Lunn, Katie Bray, Hugo Hymas, Robert Davies, Matthew Brook, The Dunedin Consort, John Butt
As with all their releases, John Butt and the Dunedins approach the scores from a scholarly angle (Butt’s approachable notes guide us through various musical and liturgical considerations) but... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, December 2021, Choral & Song Choice
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The Guardian Classical Albums of the Year, 2021
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2022, Winner - Choral
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Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem
RecommendedRecorded live at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 2008
Katharine Fuge (soprano), Matthew Brook (bass)
Monteverdi Choir & Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner
The recorded sound has great immediacy, and the chorus produces a beautifully sustained and richly coloured vocal tone. Gardiner's flexibility in tempo, phrasing and dynamics (which Brahms favoured)... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 5th March 2012
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Gramophone Awards, 2012, Finalist - Choral
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Gramophone Magazine, May 2012, Editor's Choice
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Special offer. Handel: Messiah
RecommendedLucy Crowe (soprano), Alex Potter (countertenor), Michael Spyres (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass), The English Concert & Choir, John Nelson
The theatrical instincts that have served Nelson so well in Berlioz ensure some detailed characterisation such as the semiquaver flurry of beating wings as the angels prepare to impart their... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 22nd December 2023
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2024, Nominated - Choral Recording of the Year
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Special offer. Handel: Messiah
RecommendedSusan Hamilton (soprano), Annie Gill (mezzo), Clare Wilkinson (alto), Nicholas Mulroy (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass), Edward Caswell (bass)
Dunedin Consort, John Butt
The Dunedin Consort's recording of Handel's Messiah strips the work back to how it was performed at its first outing in Dublin. Even less ornate than other 'authentic' performances, it is innately... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2007, Winner - Baroque Vocal
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Building A Library, April 2022, Also Recommended
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Special offer. Handel: Jephtha
RecommendedJames Gilchrist (Jephtha), Susan Bickley (Storge), Sophie Bevan (Iphis), Robin Blaze (Hamor), Matthew Brook (Zebul) & Grace Davidson (Angel)
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
Christophers's taut, vibrant, and beautifully sprung account is bright and dazzling, yet so often the score ought to inhabit the tortured light and shade of Caravaggio...the choruses are finely... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2014
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Building a Library, January 2018, First Choice
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Special offer. Handel: Acis and Galatea
RecommendedSusan Hamilton, Nicholas Mulroy, Thomas Hobbs, Nicholas Hurndall Smith & Matthew Brook
Dunedin Consort & Players, John Butt
The chief strength of this account lied in the excellent instrumental playing (the recorders that form the 'warbling choir' addressed in Galatea's first aria are sheer magic)… —
Awards:
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Building a Library, July 2009, First Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2009, Finalist - Baroque Vocal
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Gramophone Magazine, January 2009, Disc of the Month
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Ethel Smyth: Der Wald
RecommendedNatalya Romaniw (Röschen), Claire Barnett-Jones (Iolanthe), Robert Murray (Heinrich), Andrew Shore (A Peddler), Morgan Pearse (Count Rudolf), Matthew Brook (Peter), BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, John Andrews
Der Wald may not be such an outstanding piece [as The Wreckers], but it is well worth getting to know. While Harry Brewster’s somewhat naïve libretto holds it back, Smyth’s score shows an impressive... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2023
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winner 2023, World Premiere Recording (Rediscovery)
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Special offer. JS Bach: Magnificat & Christmas Cantata 63
Reconstruction of Bach's first Christmas Vespers in Leipzig
Julia Doyle (soprano), Joanne Lunn (soprano), Clare Wilkinson (alto), Nicholas Mulroy (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass)
Dunedin Consort, John Butt
It’s an absolute joy – far too good to keep for Christmas. —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, Choral & Song Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2015, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2016, Finalist - Baroque Vocal
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Downloads
Audio formats guide -
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Special offer. Purcell: Royal Odes
Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Iestyn Davies (counter-tenor), Charles Daniels (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass), The King’s Consort, Robert King
In Welcome Glorious Morn for Queen Mary in 1691 we reach a higher musical level. Both Carolyn Sampson and Matthew Brook suavely maintain their vocal lines against the ingenious but busy aria... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, March 2021, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Choral
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Original price ($14.75) Reduced price $11.80 -
