Henry Purcell - The Fairy Queen

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Purcell's five-act semi-opera "The Fairy Queen", composed as a series of masques to be performed between the acts of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", consists of music of extraordinary grace, brilliance, variety, and above all - as befits its original context - enchantment. And it's this last quality that has proved the most elusive to various otherwise excellent recorded performances over the years. There have been a number of well-regarded recordings, including those under Norrington, Christie, Harnoncourt, Gardiner and Christophers. This present set, recorded live at the Ravenna Festival in 2001, is performed by the Italian early-music ensemble Accademia Bizantina directed by Ottavio Dantone. However, the vocal soloists and chorus are all British - the point being well made on the cover by means of the ad hoc name New English Voices - so, for those who insist on their Purcell sounding as English as can be, rest assured that you won't be hearing Italian accents pronouncing "O letta me ever weep", or anything like that. (Stephen Midgley)

Semi-opera in 5 atti



Carolyn Sampson, soprano
Andrew Carwood, tenore
Michael Bundy, basso

New English Voices
dir. Michael McCarthy

Accademia Bizantina
dir. Ottavio Dantone

Perotin

8 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 95Mb


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This is one of the most widely admired recordings of music of this era; people from all backgrounds seem to enjoy it. The first & last tracks are particularly impressive.The polyphonic style of the era was to place a theme (chant, in the case of liturgical settings) in the tenor (the lowest voice) in long notes, and then to add "decoration" in the upper voices. As such, the lines are not really independent, but are dominated rhythmically by "cells" given by the notes of the tenor. This is the typical organum. In the conductus (non-chant based), the two main lines are sometimes more independent melodically, but the rhythms are substantially similar. There is also a large body of monophonic conducti (organa are polyphonic, by definition; the monophonic version would be plainchant).

contents:

Viderunt Omnes
Veni Creator Spiritus
Alleluia Posui Adiutorium
O Maria Virginei
Dum Sigillum
Isaias Cecinit
Alleluia Nativitas
Beata Viscera
Sederunt Principes


The Hilliard Ensemble
David James (Countertenor) 
John Potter (Tenor)
 Rogers Covey-Crump (Tenor)
Mark Padmore (Tenor)
Charles Daniels (Tenor)
Gordon Jones (Baritone)
Paul Hillier (Baritone)

G.B.Pescetti - Sonate per Gravicembalo

2 CD - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 126Mb


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Secondo gli studiosi, nell'ambito di tutta la produzione musicale di Giovanni Battista, l'opera clavicembalistica risulterebbe quella di maggior pregio, soprattutto dal punto di vista dell'innovazione stilistica. Oltre a sei Sonate per Clavicembalo conservate ancora manoscritte, sono arrivate fino ai giorni nostri le Sonate per Gravicembalo, pubblicate a Londra nel 1739, oggetto di questa registrazione.
Si tratta di composizioni che possono collocarsi in area di transizione tra stile barocco e stile galante, generalmente concepite in numero variabile di movimenti che, dal carattere contrastante, variano da due a quattro. Tra i tratti salienti che contraddistinguono felicemente la musica di Pescetti, possiamo sicuramente sottolineare la chiarezza espositiva, l'eleganza, l'essenzialità, l'ispirazione di breve gittata ma incisiva, oltre alla non comune spontaneità e fluidità di linguaggio.
Queste Sonate per Gravicembalo rappresentano, quindi, un fulgido esempio della Musica italiana del Settecento, sotto l'aspetto significativo dell'arte intesa come momento di comunicazione di suoni, di immagini, di sensazioni e sentimenti.
La musica di Pescetti richiede un tipo clavicembalo dal colore sonoro pieno e scuro, dalle note che abbiano una lunga tenuta ma anche un attacco definito e penetrante. Per questa incisione è stato utilizzato un ottimo strumento storico a due manuali, copia di Pascal Taskin (Parigi 1769), il cui originale è conservato presso la prestigiosa Russell Collection di Edimburgo.


Giovanni Battista Pescetti (1704–66) came from the same Venetian milieu as Legrenzi, Vivaldi, Platti, and Galuppi; the latter was in fact Pescetti’s classmate and collaborator in Venice. In 1737 Pescetti moved to London, where he took over the directorship of the King’s Theatre from Porpora (not Covent Garden, as stated in the liner notes). Thus, Pescetti was for a time a direct competitor to Handel, until the latter abandoned Italian opera in favor of oratorios. Naturally for any musician active in London at the time, Pescetti’s keyboard music owes a great deal to Handel, although there is nary a trace of the French element that permeates Handel’s music. The nine sonatas recorded here, all cast in a traditional three- or four-movement format, are thoroughly Italian in style, although there are indications that Pescetti was influenced by German keyboard music as well. Pescetti alternates between simple melody-with-bass, in the style of a Handelian allemande or gavotte, and more complex textures, as in the fugal opening of the A tempo giusto of Sonata 3, although he does not follow through with an unadulterated fugue à la Bach. Elsewhere, Pescetti is fond of introducing the opening theme(s) of a movement in imitative fashion, which lends a degree of interest to otherwise mediocre material. Much of the music is written in the grand style of Handel—the best example being the eight-minute Minuet of Sonata 1, which is a theme-and-variations in the spirit of Handel’s variations on “The Harmonious Blacksmith.”

FANFARE: Christopher Brodersen

contents:


Sonata I
Sonata II
Sonata III
Sonata IV

Sonata V
Sonata VI
Sonata VII
Sonata VIII
Sonata IX

Filippo Emanuele Ravizza, harpsichord

Bara Faustus' Dreame

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Another supremely high-concept disc superlatively executed, this package called Bara Faustus' Dreame performed by Les Witches and produced by Alpha is essentially a recital of soulfully sorrowful songs and deeply despairing dances by Dowland, Morley, Byrd, Philips, and others. Mixing mournful instrumental pieces bearing names like Pavana Dolorosa with doleful songs with titles like "In darkness let me dwell," the program is certain to incite even the most optimistic to embrace nihilism. Performed with consummate artistry by the instrumental ensemble called Les Witches, augmented with the complete sympathy of vocalizing guest Witches, the recital is sure to drive even the most happy folks to unassuageable hopelessness. Produced with the standard lush sound, customary sumptuous notes, and usual lavish art reproductions by Alpha, the package is bound to please even the most discriminating record collectors. Any listener looking for a reason to do themselves in can be positive of finding at least one if not several in Bara Faustus' Dreame. 

contents:


1 - Anonyme - Goe from my window
2 - John Dowland - Com when i call
3 - Richard Alison - Goe from my window
4 - Dowland - van Eyck - Can she excuse / Excuse moy
5 - Peter Phillips - Pavana dolorosa. Tregian
6 - Peter Phillips - Galiarda dolorosa
7 - John Dowland - From silent night
8 - Alfonso Ferrabosco - Dovehouse pavan
9 - Alfonso Ferrabosco - Heare me. O God
10 - William Byrd - Tregian's ground
11 - Giovanni Coperario - In darkness let me dwell
12 - John Ward - Fantasy
13 - Anonyme - The shepherd's joy
14 - Thomas Morley - O mistresse mine
15 - John Dowland - Thomas Morley - Captaine pipers pavin
16 - John Dowland - Thomas Morley - Galliard Can she excuse
17 - John Dowland - If my complaints could passions move

Les Witches

La Vendetta

14 tracks - Mp3 192 Kbps - RAR 110Mb


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contents:


E.Jacquet de la Guerre - Sonata I in re per violino e BC
Barbara Strozzi - Sul Rodano Severo
E.Jacquet de la Guerre - Preludio, dalla suite in la per clavicembalo
Antonia Bembo - Passan veloci l'hore
Antonia Bembo - Anima perfidaE.Jacquet de la Guerre - Sonata prima per due violini e violoncello obbligatoE.Jacquet de la Guerre - Sinfonia da 'Samson'
Antonia Bembo - M'ingannasti in verità
Barbara Strozzi - La vendetta
Barbara Strozzi - Sino alla Morte
Barbara Strozzi - Costume de' grandi


Roberta Invernizzi, soprano
Bizzarrie Armoniche
dir. Elena Russo

Barbara Strozzi - Lagrime mie

13 tracks - MP3 192 Kbps - RAR 112 Mb

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Recently a composer being unmeritedly forgotten over the last centuries gains more and more back recognition within the musical world: Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677). This recording aims to emphasize the richness of forms and the affected style of the vocal music of the Venetian master and thus to open it to a wider audience. A selection of her compositions consisting at all of eight collections marks the centre of this CD. The title of the CD “Lagrime mie” (My tears) is taken from Strozzi’s opus 7 and is to be seen as representative for the dominant themes of her vocal compositions. Most of the texts composed by Strozzi deal with love and pain from love. Nearly the half of the poets’ names is unknown. Each of the presented compositions of Strozzi’s illustrates at which impressive level the artist was able to transport the complex dramatic and emotion of the used texts. Strozzi’s work within this recording is accomplished by compositions of four other composers, to whom she may have listened to in Venice and thus may light up – within this frame – the artistic environment of the time and place.

contents:

1 - Lagrime mie (Op. 7)
2 - Se volete cosi me ne contento (Op. 6)
3 - Alessandro Piccinini - Toccata XII (tiorba sola)
4 - Alessandro Piccinini - Corrente V (tiorba sola)
5 - Che v'hò fato (Op. 7)
6 - Bernardo Storace - Ciaccona (clavicembalo solo)
7 - Chiudi l'audaci labra (Op. 6)
8 - Girolamo Frescobaldi - Canzon Prima (violoncello solo)
9 - L'Eraclito Amoroso: Udite Amanti (Op. 2)
10 - Lilla mia, non ti doler (Op. 6)
11 - Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger - Kapsberger (tiorba sola)
12 - Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger - Canario (tiorba sola)
13 - Che si può fare? (Op. 8)

 Fons Musica

Dorothee Leclair (Soprano)
Jory Vinicour (Cembalo)
Lea Rahel Bader (Cello)
Yasunori Imamura (Theorbe)