Opera, Masques
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a maddening, fascinating and often bewitching disc —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2016
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Gramophone Awards, 2017, Finalist - Recital
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International Classical Music Awards, 2017, Winner - Baroque Vocal
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Victorious Love - Songs by Henry Purcell
RecommendedCarolyn Sampson (soprano), Laurence Cummings (harpsichord & spinet), Elizabeth Kenny (archlute / theorbo), Anne-Marie Lasla (bass viol), Sarah Sexton (violin I), Andrea Morris (violin II) & Jane Rogers (viola)
Her tone is extraordinarily beautiful: natural, warm and unforced, with almost superhuman vocal athleticism —
Awards:
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Building a Library, February 2014, Top Recital Recommendation
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2007, Editor's Choice
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Special offer. Purcell: The Fairy Queen, 1692
RecommendedCarolyn Sampson (soprano), Anna Dennis (soprano), Mhairi Lawson (soprano), Ashley Riches (bass-baritone), Roderick Williams (baritone), Gabrieli, Paul McCreesh
McCreesh’s production rises to the occasion: original voicing, unorthodox continuo, project-specific trumpet design and rediscovered string techniques bring out qualities missing from earlier... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 10th April 2020
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2020, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2020, Opera Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2020
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Gramophone Awards, 2021, Shortlisted - Opera
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Building a Library, February 2023, Recommended Recording
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a performance that may not be authentic in a strict historical sense but feels absolutely authentic to the spirit of the period and of players – as then, and as now. —
Awards:
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Presto Editor's Choice, September 2022
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2022
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Gramophone Magazine, November 2022, Editor's Choice
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Andreas Scholl: Purcell - O Solitude
RecommendedAndreas Scholl (countertenor), with Christophe Dumaux (countertenor)
Accademia Bizantina, Stefano Montanari
Ethereal yet visceral, Scholl's voice is the dream vehicle for Purcell...Stefano Montanari coaxes thrilling playing from Accademia Bizantina, who dance and swagger, throb and pulsate with true... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2012, Vocal Award Winner
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Alison Balsom: Sound The Trumpet
RecommendedRoyal Music of Purcell and Handel
Alison Balsom (trumpet), Iestyn Davies (countertenor), Lucy Crowe (soprano)
The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock
This charming disc contains some of the most imaginative and polished trumpet playing you're ever likely to hear...Born-again authenticists may cavil at Balsom's vented trumpet, a modern development... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 8th October 2012
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2012, Editor's Choice
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The Cendrillon aria suits her talents closely, with her ethereal tone and confident coloratura skills. There’s some real magic here. Mendelssohn’s fairy-song ‘Neue Liebe’ has just the right... —
Awards:
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2023, Nominated - Female Singer of the Year
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Opus Klassik Awards, 2023, Winner - Solo Vocal
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Arias for Guadagni
Recommendedthe first modern castrato
Iestyn Davies (countertenor)
Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
Through his effortless line, countertenor Iestyn Davies revivifies Guadagni's Orphic powers...Whether drawing out sustained notes or knitting together filigreed coloratura, he is a paragon of... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2012, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2012, Winner - Recital
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Special offer. Purcell: The Fairy Queen, Z629
RecommendedLucy Crowe (Juno/Mystery), Claire Debono (Spring/First Fairy), Anna Devin (Second Fairy), Helen-Jane Howells (Eve), Carolyn Sampson (Night), Robert Burt (Mopsa), Sean Clayton (Summer), Ed Lyon (Secrecy/Adam), Adrian Ward (Autumn), Lukas Kargl (Phœbus), Desmond Barrit (Drunken Poet), Andrew Foster-Williams...
Jonathan Kent's joyous Glyndebourne production burst[s] with opulent stagecraft...Kent is abetted by William Christie in the pit, a man of the theatre down to his gainfully-employed fingertips...Altogether... —
Awards:
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Building a Library, September 2011, First Choice (Blu-ray)
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BBC Music Magazine, November 2010, DVD Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, October 2010, DVD of the Month
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Gramophone Awards, 2010, Winner - DVD Performance
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2011, DVD of the Year
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Special offer. Purcell: Music for a While (Standard)
Improvisations on Purcell
Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor), Raquel Andueza (soprano), Vincenzo Capezzuto (alto), Dominique Visse (countertenor), Gianluigi Trovesi (clarinet) & Wolfgang Muthspiel (acoustic guitar & electric guitar)
L’Arpeggiata, Christina Pluhar
Long experienced in fusing Baroque with jazz-inspired performance styles, L'Arpeggiata's approach breathes new life into the Restoration composer, whose ground basses are akin to riffs, his... —
