We’re used to thinking of castrati as the operatic superstars of the 18th century. Even today one can readily bring to mind the names Farinelli and Senesino from among hundreds…
Author: David Truslove
Poulenc’s brilliantly observed La voix humaine given a stunning Wigmore performance
We’ve all been there: the heart-lurching response to the sound of the telephone, the bitter disappointment when a text message isn’t returned and the rapid descent into floor-pacing emotional disarray.…
I wonder as I wander: an assured debut from James Newby and Joseph Middleton
Recorded only five years since his graduation from Trinity Laban, this is an excellent debut CD from the not-yet-thirty-year-old James Newby, already with a string of prizes including the prestigious Kathleen…
Purcell Royal Odes: music for royalty superbly fashioned by The King’s Consort
Robert King has been addressing the music of Henry Purcell for over thirty years, and his ground-breaking anthology of odes and welcome songs begun in 1988 brought fresh insights to…
Pygmalion: Bach Motets
Issued last September but only recently brushing my radar, Pygmalion’s alpha-plus Bach disc is a revelation. Raphaël Pichon, founder of the specialist Baroque ensemble in 2006, has had a rewarding…
Pelham Humfrey – Sacred Choral Music
Until just recently the church music of Pelham Humfrey (1647/8-74) was represented on disc with just two dedicated recordings: one from 1992 with the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge (Nicholas…
Soli Deo Gloria: Philippe Pierlot directs the Ricercar Consort and Collegium Vocale in Bach’s cantatas
Under the direction of Belgian viola da gamba player Philippe Pierlot, the Ricercar Consort continue their exploration of J.S. Bach’s sacred cantatas – an intermittent project over the last twenty…
John Sheppard’s Media vita: The Choir of New College, Oxford
Modern scholarship directed at the English Reformation composer John Sheppard (c.1515-58) has come a long way since Peter le Huray’s research during the 1960s and David Wulstan’s pioneering performances a…
Choir of Keble College, Oxford: Ave Rex Angelorum
Ancient plainchant, medieval texts and numinous harmonies form a unifying thread for this uplifting recent disc from the Choir of Keble College Oxford recorded in the warm acoustic of Buckfast…