Chaconne
Chandos' early music label, using original or period instruments.
In 1989 Chandos launched its early music label - Chaconne - which set out to present a cross section of early-music repertoire from Medieval to Classical, peformed on original or period instruments.
The recordings, which now number well over 100 titles, are of a consistently high standard in both performance and sound recording.
In terms of artistic direction, the Chaconne label has been able to offer mainstream composers such as J.S. Bach, Handel and Vivaldi as well as less-familiar composers including Leclair, Albinoni and Telemann. Chaconne recordings have a very international appeal above and beyond the many early-music enthusiasts here in the UK.
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Special offer. Handel: Alceste
RecommendedLucy Crowe (soprano), Benjamin Hulett (tenor) & Andrew Foster-Williams (bass-baritone)
Early Opera Company, Christian Curnyn
Curnyn's delicious recording of the surviving score is amplified with a sinfonia from Admeto and a passacaglia from Radamisto. These fizzily, sexily swung orchestral additions emphasise the... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 14th May 2012
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BBC Music Magazine, July 2012, Opera Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2012, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2013, Opera Award Winner
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Special offer. Handel: Acis and Galatea
Lucy Crowe (Galatea), Allan Clayton (Acis), Benjamin Hulett (Damon), Jeremy Budd (Coridon) & Neal Davies (Polyphemus)
Early Opera Company, Christian Curnyn
Curnyn has hit on a secret that eluded previous interpreters of this work: it was conceived specifically to showcase the beauty of the English language…Channelling Handel’s enthusiasm, Curnyn... —
Awards:
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Record Review, 16th June 2018, Recording of the Week
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The Times Records of the Year, 2018
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2019, Finalist - Opera
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2019, Winner - Opera
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Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
RecommendedSarah Connolly (Dido), Gerald Finley (Aeneas), Lucy Crowe (Belinda), Patricia Bardon (Sorceress), William Purefoy (Spirit), Sarah Tynan (2nd Woman), John Mark Ainsley (Sailor), Carys Lane & Rebecca Outram (Witches)
Choir & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Steven Devine and Elizabeth...
This new Dido… enshrines Connolly as one of the most affecting Carthaginian Queens since Janet Baker's account nearly half a century ago. From the outset, Connolly exudes imposing presence,... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 2nd February 2009
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2009, Editor's Choice
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Building a Library, November 2019, Recommended Recording
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Special offer. Handel: Serse
Anna Stéphany (Serse), Rosemary Joshua (Romilda), David Daniels (Arsamene), Hilary Summers (Amastre), Joélle Harvey (Atalanta), Andreas Wolf (Elviro), Brindley Sherratt (Ariodate)
Early Opera Company, Christian Curnyn
[Stéphany's] is a stunning central performance, comfortably matched by incisive playing from the Early Opera Company orchestra. Sopranos Rosemary Joshua (as Romilda) and Joelle Harvey (Atalanta)... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, September 2013, Editor's Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2014, Finalist - Baroque Vocal
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Buxtehude - Sacred Cantatas
Emma Kirkby, Suzie LeBlanc (sopranos), Peter Harvey (bass)
Purcell Quartet
Several of these Sacred Cantatas by Buxtehude aren't otherwise available, and if you'd like to put some flesh on the bare bones of the man admired, and eclipsed, by Bach, then I can't currently... —
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Vivaldi: Gloria & Bach: Magnificat
RecommendedEmma Kirkby, Tessa Bonner (sopranos), Michael Chance (counter-tenor), John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Stephen Varcoe (baritone)
Collegium Musicum 90, Richard Hickox
Hickox sets effective tempos in Bach's Magnificat and points up the many striking contrasts in colour and texture with which the piece abounds. From among the many successful features of the... —
Awards:
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Building a Library, December 2018, Recommended Recording
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When the glories of Haydn's late Masses have been widely appreciated, it's sad that Hummel's have been so neglected.
They are for chorus and orchestra alone, without soloists, which may have... —Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2002, Finalist - Choral
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Gramophone Awards, 2003, Winner - Choral
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Special offer. Handel: Flavio
Tim Mead (Flavio), Rosemary Joshua (Emilia), Iestyn Davies (Guido), Renata Pokupić (Vitige), Hilary Summers (Teodata), Thomas Walker (Ugone), Andrew Foster-Williams (Lotario)
Early Opera Company, Christian Curnyn
Flavio has some fine music, but is rarely performed...The aria 'Amante stravagante'...nicely displays [Joshua's] bright, silvery tone...The vocal star is Renata Pokupic as Vitige. Her 'Non credo'... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Awards, 2011, Finalist - Baroque Vocal
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Special offer. Eccles - The Judgment of Paris & Three Mad Songs
Roderick Williams (baritone), Benjamin Hulett (tenor), Susan Bickley (mezzo-soprano), Claire Booth (soprano) & Lucy Crowe (soprano)
The Early Opera Company, Christian Curnyn
Christian Curnyn elegantly captures the unique charms of Eccles's music. …as Venus, Lucy Crowe's melting lyricism, delicately underpinned by plucked and bowed instruments, is irresistible;... —
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