Hyperion Records

The King's Consort is one of Europe's leading period instrument orchestras. Founded in 1980, TKC and its equally renowned Choir of The King's Consort have toured in five continents and appeared in almost every European country, in Japan, Hong Kong and the Far East, as well as North and South America. With 95 CDs in the catalogue, and more than one million CD sales, TKC is one of the world's most-recorded historical instrument orchestras.

For three decades The King's Consort has presented an adventurous variety of repertoire spanning from 1600-1860 in many of the greatest European concert halls. Highlights have included seven appearances at the BBC Proms, performances of the spectacular Coronation of King George II, the Venetian reconstruction Lo Sposalizio and Bach's Mass in B minor and St Matthew Passion widely across Britain and Europe, staged performances of Purcell's The Fairy Queen in Spain and Britain, the opening concert of BBC TV's Purcell celebrations, and Mozart's Requiem in the glorious Alhambra Palace in Granada. Other staged operas have included Handel's Ottone in Japan and Britain, Handel's Ezio at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris and Purcell's The Indian Queen in the historic theatre in Schwetzingen, Germany. Tours further afield have included concert and opera performances in Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines, in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, and across the USA and Canada.

The King's Consort's highly-acclaimed recordings with Hyperion have won many international awards and sold over one million copies. The orchestra is especially regarded for its many recordings of music by Handel and Purcell, but its catalogue also includes instrumental and choral music by dozens of composers from Albinoni to Zelenka, including concertos by Haydn and Hummel, Bach's Mass in B minor, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, Mozart Sacred Music, the Stabat maters of Pergolesi, Astorga and Boccherini, Telemann's Wassermusik and the massive Venetian reconstruction Lo Sposalizio. Twenty-five world-premiere recordings of Purcell's complete Odes, Solo Songs and Sacred Music established TKC as the world's leading performers of this composer's music.

Other series include The Sacred Music of Monteverdi, including the Vespers of 1610: this series follows the success of ten volumes of Vivaldi's complete Sacred Music. Similarly fêted have been the best-selling recordings of The Coronation of King George II, Handel's colourful Ode for St Cecilia, a critically acclaimed recording of the Michael Haydn Requiem (winner of BBC Music Magazine’s 2006 Best Choral Recording), and a large-scale disc of Mozart Sacred Music with soprano Carolyn Sampson.