Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Click cover art to view larger version
Track(s) taken from CDA67904

Sonata in F minor, Kk466

composer
found in I-PAp AG 31406–20, Biblioteca Nazionale Palatina (Parma)

L'Avventura London, Žak Ozmo (director), David Gordon (harpsichord)
Recording details: January 2012
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Rachel Smith
Engineered by Ben Connellan
Release date: November 2012
Total duration: 3 minutes 21 seconds

Cover artwork: Girl Listening to a Guitar (1796). Francisco de Goya (1746-1828)
 

Reviews

‘Fully at ease with the music's poetry, Portuguese sopranos Sandra Medeiros and Joana Seara flit easily from playful coquettes to tragic lovers, while a small but colourful instrumental ensemble offers discrete accompaniments … charming accounts’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘An enjoyable surprise … Sandra Medeiros and Joana Seara supply the authentic-sounding vocals’ (International Record Review)

‘A revelation … the singing of Portuguese sopranos Sandra Medeiros and Joana Seara … is perfect for the intertwining lines and suggestive harmonies of the modinhas. Ozmo's seven-piece ensemble slips with ease between minuets by composers such as Avondano and Leite and the swing of the Brazilian songs, with harpsichordist David Gordon's playing particularly well judged. Ravishing’ (Early Music Today)

‘Italian influence is pervasive and a sonata by Domenico Scarlatti, who lived in Lisbon for 10 years, does not feel at all out of place. But beneath the delicate bobs and bows surge the powerful motives of love and betrayal that one hears in modern Portuguese fado—the eternal yearning for love, allied to a weary recognition that it must fail. This expression of love’s futility is not cynical, as it might be in other cultures. On the contrary, love emerges all the stronger for its black-eyed realism. The diversity of the music holds your attention from start to finish, whether it is a soprano serenade with guitar-led ensemble or a lonely harpsichord plucking away in the noonday sun. Impatient listeners should skip to the second track, where they will be assaulted by duet virtuosity of a feline, Rossinian felicity. Sandra Medeiros and Joana Seara are the stunning sopranos; Žak Ozmo directs L’Avventura London. This, wrote Beckford, is ‘an original sort of music, different from any I ever heard’. Two centuries later, that estimate still holds true’ (Sinfini.com)
Waiting for content to load...
Waiting for content to load...