[Cover graphic]

Compact Disc CDA67428

DSD Multichannel Hybrid SACD
SACDA67428

£13.99
£16.99

Here we have the start of a substantial new 'complete' recording series from The King's Consort, namely the sacred music of Claudio Monteverdi.

The first volume is suitably opulent, with a veritable 'Who's who' of Monteverdi solo singers joined by two dozen chorus singers and a colourful group of instrumentalists under Robert King's lively baton. The repertoire for this opening volume presents a joyous Christmas sequence from the composer's great collection of 1640-41, Selva morale e spirituale, such as might have been heard at a Venetian Vespers, alongside a fine Mass. The spacious recordings were made in Super Audio 'surround sound' [SACDA67428 will be released in November] and are complemented by excellent booklet notes by Monteverdi expert Professor John Whenham.

Monteverdi's unique music is constantly inventive, immensely varied - and uniquely Venetian. A glorious new Hyperion project!

Recorded in St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, on 10–14 February 2003
Recording Engineer
PHILIP HOBBS
Recording Producer
BEN TURNER
Post-Production
Julia Thomas (Finesplice)
Keyboard Technician
Edmund Pickering
Front Design
TERRY SHANNON, ROBERT KING
Booklet Editor
TIM PARRY
Executive Producer
SIMON PERRY
© Hyperion Records Ltd, London, MMIII

Duration: 75’46
DDD

CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI (1567-1643)

The Sacred Music - 1

CAROLYN SAMPSON, REBECCA OUTRAM soprano
ROGERS COVEY-CRUMP, NICHOLAS MULROY, DANIEL AUCHINCLOSS high tenor
CHARLES DANIELS, JAMES GILCHRIST tenor
PETER HARVEY, ROBERT EVANS bass

CHOIR OF THE KING'S CONSORT
THE KING’S CONSORT
ROBERT KING conductor

Contents:

  1. Dixit [Dominus] Primo à 8 voci concertato [9'48]
  2. Confitebor Primo à 3 voci con 5 altre voci ne ripieni [8'36]
  3. Beatus vir I à 6 voci concertato [7'42]
  4. Laudate pueri Primo à 5 concertato [7'06]
  5. Laudate Dominum omnes gentes à 5 concertato [4'37]
  6. Christe redemptor omnium Himnus unius Martyris [4'05]
  7. Magnificat Primo à 8 voci [13'43]

    Messa à 4 da Cappella [19'03]

  8. Kyrie [2'35]
  9. Gloria [3'37]
  10. Credo [5'46]
  11. Sanctus [2'05]
  12. Benedictus [1'34]
  13. Agnus Dei [3'24]
Sleeve Notes

'The King's Consort shows complete affinity with both the dramatic and the lyrical aspects of Monteverdi's style. No ensemble could be better suited to this magnificent undertaking' (The Daily Telegraph}

'This is life-enhancing stuff, breathtakingly exciting at times, exquisitely beautiful at others. If King and his forces maintain the standard they set here, this series is surely set to be the definitive representation of Monteverdi on disc' (BBC Music Magazine)

'...one of the glories of the new disc is the gloriously full-toned and marvelously projected singing of his two sopranos, Carolyn Sampson and Rebecca Outram ... A further distinct plus is Hyperion's superb engineering, which presents the performances with glowing, yet sharply defined immediacy' (Fanfare, USA)

'This music is already familiar from other recordings of Venetian vespers, yet these are magisterial performances, the Christmas setting giving them an appropriately festive focus' (Early Music)

'...a highly successful opening instalment' (Goldberg)

See also:
Monteverdi: The Sacred Music - 2
Monteverdi: The Sacred Music - 3
Monteverdi: The Sacred Music - 4
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