Henry Purcell, Emma Kirkby, Charles Daniels, David Thomas, John Mark Ainsley, Michael Chance, Choir & Players Taverner Consort, Roger Covey-Crump, Michael George, Simon Grant, Paul Elliott, Kevin Smith - Purcell: Odes for St. Cecilia's Day - Music for Queen Mary / Taverner Consort

Andrew Parrott and his Taverner Consort, Choir, and Players have made some of the finest Purcell recordings to have appeared since the period-instrument revival began; unfortunately, most of those discs had been out of print for years. Happily, Virgin has reissued some of Parrott's best work on this reasonably priced two-for-one release. The performances aren't just exemplary, they're something of a landmark: in them Parrott pioneered the now-standard practice of using high tenors rather than falsettists on some of Purcell's low-lying "countertenor" parts. (One example is "Sound the trumpet," a duet for "high" and "low" countertenors from Purcell's ode Come, ye sons of art, sung by falsettist Timothy Wilson and high tenor John Mark Ainsley.) Excellent performances of the Funeral Sentences and Funeral Music for Queen Mary are here as well, but the centerpiece of this set is Hail, bright Cecilia!, the longest and most colorful of Purcell's odes in praise of the patron saint of music. There is some serious competition here--Paul McCreesh and Philippe Herreweghe have made superb recordings of this work--but Parrott edges them out. For example, alone among the ode's conductors on record, Parrott interpolates an organ solo amidst all of the text's praise of the organ (an instrument St. Cecilia was thought to have invented); he also provides appealing variety by using 12 different soloists (as Purcell did at the premiere). Those soloists are an impressive lot--they include Emma Kirkby, David Thomas, Paul Elliott and Charles Daniels (gently enchanting in the tenor duet "In vain the am'rous Flute"), and the Hilliard Ensemble's Rogers Covey-Crump, who gives an extraordinary rendition of the famous and fearsomely difficult air "'Tis Nature's Voice." --Matthew Westphal Amazon.com essential recording

Unrivalled recording......uncommon brilliance.

The mind boggles when listening to Purcell. Certainly his was a genius that could vie with any great contrapuntist. It is sad that he had to go so early in his life. But then I guess we wouldn't have seen the rise and rise of Handel.

Having said that, this recording is a marvellous one, one of uncommon brilliance I might add. It does not represent a summary of his work and style, even if restricted to just his vocal music, such was the originality and fertility of his invention. But it is revealing of the enormity of his command of music. Why this composer isn't as well-known as Mozart or Bach, or yes even Handel, I will never know.

I assure all that the quality of these recordings is unrivalled. Careful attention is paid to detail, and a first-rate line up of soloists ensures a world-class performance. I give this recording 5 stars out of five, for a stunning example of excellence and high standards. November 24, 2006

a voice teacher and early music fan

PARROTT'S USE OF HIGH TENORS RATHER THAN FALSETTISTS ON PURCELL'S LOW-LYING 'COUNTERTENOR' PARTS IS CONSIDERED A LANDMARK!

This is a 2 CD package which involves 2 different recording dates and recording groups. Disc l: Odes "Welcome to all the Pleasures"-"Funeral Sentences"-"Come Ye sons of Art"-"Funeral Music for Queen Mary". The singers on this disc are:Emily Evera(soprano),Timothy Wilson (countertenor),John Mark Ainsley(tenor),Charles Daniels (tenor) and David Thomas (bass). It was recorded in 1988,

Disc 2: ode "Hail Bright Cecelia" with singers Emma Kirkby (soprano),Michael Chance , Kevin Smith (countertenors),Paul Elliot, Neil Jenkins, Andrew King (tenors)and Michael George, Richard Wistreich (basses).This disc was recorded in 1985. Contrary to Westphal's opinion, I do not like tenors to be given solos that should be sung by countertenors; the quality of the tenor voice is not light enough for these tunes. Of course, this is a personal reaction on my part, and is why I would not give this recording five stars. But, to be fair, the general reaction among critics has been very favorable, so I may be the only one in the world that feels this way.

An example of the previously mention practice employed by Parrott on this disc (one) involves the duet"Sound the Trumpet" that is most often sung happily, I think, by a 'high' countertenor and a 'low countertenor' such as James Bowman and Michael Chance, who can sing either part effortlessly. However, on this recording it is sung by falsettist: Timothy Wilson and high tenor: John Mark Ainsley; both excellent singers. So it's all in what you prefer.

Excellent performances of the Funeral Sentences and Funeral Music for Queen Mary are here as well, but the centerpiece of this set is 'Hail Bright Cecelia', the longest and most colorful of Purcell's odes in praise of the patron saint of music. All twelve soloists are enjoyable to hear especially: Emma Kirkby, Michael Chance, John Mark Ainsley,Timothy Wilson and Emily Van Evera. July 29, 2006

Excellent

This is an excellent set of performances of these Purcell gems. The soloists, choir, and instrumentalists are all first rate. The infrequently performed funeral and birthday music for Queen Mary is a real treat. Recommended strongly. December 1, 2005

No Bargain

I agree with the Editorial Review and the comments posted with this release. These are superb recordings of Purcell's great works. But there is a big problem with this package. This is a Virgin Veritas x2 pack. The original recordings have been bundled up in a space saving jewel case and sold at half the price of the originals. Unfortunately, this comes at cost to the potential buyer. Gone is the original artwork, gone are the original notes by Richard Luckett and Eric Van Tassel, and most seriously, gone are the lyrics of these great works. Unless you already own versions of these works that have the lyrics, this is not the place to start. I strongly urge you to acquire these wonderful works in their original editions from Virgin: Hail! Bright Cecilia on disc #45160 and Come ye sons of art on disc #45159 (for some reason, Amazon has these listed under the label EMI). This release is no bargain. January 23, 2004

Awesome! A high tenor paradise

What a wonderful recording! The lineup of soloists is simply stunning. There are many of them: practically a different person for each air. This achieves admirable variety, and each voice is a pleasure to hear. I'm a big fan of hautes-contre, so I was really happy to discover that they get to sing most of the "alto" airs on this set. The highlight of this recording is my all time favorite Purcell air 'Tis Nature's Voice, stunningly sung here by Rogers Covey-Crump. I think I've heard just about every 'Tis Nature's Voice ever recorded (except for Rene Jacobs, who I wouldn't really want to hear), and Covey-Crump undeniably gets the most out of it. But my favorite remains Mark Padmore on the Herreweghe recording of Hail! Bright Cecilia. Herreweghe uses fewer soloists (Padmore sings all tenor and half of all countertenor parts), and slower tempi that, in my view, help the singers' intonation. But all in all, the choice ends up being a matter of taste. There is no rational basis to prefer one of these two recordings over the other: both are wonderful. July 22, 1999

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