This month's batch of Eloquence titles brings back five outstanding CDs Emma Kirkby recorded for Decca's 'L'Oiseau Lyre' subsidiary label. They are released in advance of her Musica Viva tour in August. Both Gervase de Peyer and Antal Dorati are featured in 18 th century music (the Dorati/Haydn a distinct rarity brought back to the catalogue on much demand) and the suavely transparent recording of Debussy chamber music that the Boston Symphony Chamber Players made for DG, also returns to the catalogue.

Catalogue Number:
 476 7459
Barcode:
 0028947674597
Label:
 Decca Eloquence CD
Release date:
17 July

ARTISTS
Emma Kirkby, soprano
Steven Lubin, fortepiano
The Academy of Ancient Music
Christopher Hogwood

TRACKLISTING
Aer tranquillo e dì sereni ... L'amerò, sarò costante' (Il rè pastore)
Ruhe sanft, meine holdes Leben ... Trostlos schluchzet Philomele (Zaïde)
Ah, lo previdi
Voi avete un cor fedele
Nehmt meinen Dank
Ch'io mi scordi di te

'Nehmt meinen Dank ... sees Kirkby charming her way through its short, curtseying phrases in the gracious company of flute, oboe, bassoon and pizzicato strings. Hogwood's Academy plays thoughout with sentient vigour. For L'amero, saro costante, Christopher Hirons steps out to provide an affecting solo violin confidant for the leaning, sighing vocal part with its irresistible descending trill of a tiny cadenza. And in Ch'io mi scordi di te , the interplay of Kirkby's voice, orchestra and Steven Lubin's fleet-fingered fortepiano is deeply satisfying.' Gramophone

return to top
Catalogue Number:
 476 7460
Barcode:
 0028947674603
Label:
 Decca Eloquence CD
Release date:
17 July

ARTISTS
Emma Kirkby, soprano
Academy of Ancient Music
Westminster Cathedral Choir (Boys' Voices)
Christopher Hogwood

TRACKLISTING
Ergo interest, KV143
Exsultate, jubilate, KV165
Regina coeli, KV108
Regina coeli, KV127

'Those who know Exsultate, jubilate well will notice that here the oboes are replaced by flutes (with less to do in the last movement) and that the words of the first movement and the recitative which follows it are different; the reason is that this performance is based on a manuscript discovered in 1979, which seems to have been prepared for a performance in Salzburg in 1780 for the feast of the Holy Trinity. Emma Kirby sings it with stunning virtuosity, with never a note or an inflection out of place, and she adds some nice flourishes and cadenzas at appropriate points ... Emma Kirby sings the exacting solo parts with apparently effortless fluency ... these are spectacular performances, enhanced by the fine choral and orchestral support guided by the sure hand of Christopher Hogwood, and vividly recorded.' Gramophone

return to top

 
Catalogue Number:
 476 7466
Barcode:
 0028947674665
Label:
 Decca Eloquence CD
Release date:
17 July

ARTISTS
Emma Kirkby, soprano
Anthony Rooley, lute

TRACKLISTING
RICHARD EDWARDS: Where grypinge griefs
THOMAS CAMPION: Come let us sound
JOHN DOWLAND: In this trembling shadow
JOHN DANYEL: Like as the lute delights
JOHN DOWLAND: I saw my Ladye weepe
FRANCIS PILKINGTON: Rest sweet Nimphs
THOMAS CAMPION: When to her Lute
FRANCIS PILKINGTON: Musick deare sollace
THOMAS MORLEY: I saw my Ladye weeping
ROBERT JONES: If in this flesh
FRANCIS PILKINGTON: Come all ye
JOHN BARTLETT: Sweete birdes deprive us never

Together with her husband Anthony Rooley, Emma Kirkby brings her purity of sound and intimacy of interpretation to a quiet and reflective program of Elizabethan songs. A much-praised recording in its day, with informative notes by Emma Kirkby herself, it is as fresh as it was when recorded nearly 30 years ago and is happily restored to the catalogue at budget price.
return to top

 
Catalogue Number:
 476 7468
Barcode:
 0028947674689
Label:
 Decca Eloquence CD
Release date:
17 July

ARTISTS
Emma Kirkby, soprano
Steven Lubin, fortepiano
The Academy of Ancient Music
Christopher Hogwood

TRACKLISTING
HANDEL:
Tu fedel? tu costante?
Mi palpita il cor
Alpestre monte
Tra le fiamme

As one of music's greatest recyclers, Handel would have earned untold respect in our time. That he managed (largely) to achieve this so felicitously, so that whether you were listening to an aria in the context of an English oratorio or an Italian cantata it seemed intuitively 'right', is tribute to his skill. This collection of four Italian cantatas by Kirkby and Hogwood has been something of a benchmark for this repertoire with an equal display of fireworks and cantabile and returns after a long absence to the catalogue, now at budget price.
return to top

 
Catalogue Number:
 476 7467
Barcode:
 0028947674672
Label:
 Decca Eloquence CD
Release date:
17 July

ARTISTS
Emma Kirkby, soprano
Catherine Mackintosh, violin
Richard Campbell, viola da gamba
Anthony Rooley, lute

TRACKLISTING
Hark! Hark! How all things
Crown the altar, deck the shrine
If music be the food of love
Not all my torments
O, O let me weep
I attempt from love's sickness to fly
Olinda in the shades unseen
Urge me no more
Bess of Bedlam
Lovely, lovely Albina
Sweeter than roses
Dear pretty youth
When first Amintas sued for a kiss
The cares of lovers
Ye gentle spirits of the air
An evening Hymn

'The 16 Purcell songs and airs in this recital, some familiar, some rarely heard, are arranged in a pleasing order for continuous listening but, of course, can be selected or re-arranged at the touch of a CD button. Emma Kirkby's pure white tone is a joy throughout, her diction immaculate and her technique equal to all the demands of Purcell's many notes to a word - with nice decorations in repeated passages.' Gramophone
return to top

 
Catalogue Number:
 476 7693
Barcode:
 0028947676935
Label:
 Decca Eloquence CD
Release date:
17 July

As a pendant to his legendary cycle of the Haydn symphonies with the Philharmonia Hungarica, Antal Dorati also recorded supplementary symphonies and the Sinfonia Concertante, all of which made their way into the highly-regarded boxed set of these works. However as a pendant he also recorded these gorgeous 24 Minuets - then, as now, a comparative rarity. The recording appeared briefly on Decca's 'Serenata' series but has long been deleted and has now become something of a collector's item. Here it is happily restored to CD at budget price.

return to top

 
Catalogue Number:
 476 7404
Barcode:
 0028947674047
Label:
 Decca Eloquence CD
Release date:
17 July

ARTISTS
Gervase de Peyer, clarinet
London Symphony Orchestra
Colin Davis [Spohr, Weber]
Peter Maag [Mozart]

TRACKLISTING
MOZART: Clarinet Concerto in A, KV 622
SPOHR: Clarinet Concerto No. 1
WEBER: Clarinet Concerto No. 2

'There are plenty of other recorded performances of Mozart's and Weber's concertos to choose from, even a couple of Spohr's, but these have acquired classic status. De Peyer is at his finest in Weber's work, which finds him relishing its drama and its technical challenge; he is sympathetically accompanied by another fine clarinettist of yore, Sir Colin Davis (the two of them were once the clarinet stars of the Royal College of Music). De Peyer gives a fluent, easy performance of Mozart's concerto ... the Adagio is gracefully phrased, without sentimentality, and the Rondo has a delightful spring to it. The record is a pleasant tribute to his artistry.' Gramophone
return to top

 
Catalogue Number:
 476 7703
Barcode:
 0028947677031
Label:
 DG Eloquence CD
Release date:
17 July

ARTISTS
Boston Symphony Chamber Players

TRACKLISTING
DEBUSSY:
Prélude à l'aprè-midi d'un faune
Violin Sonata
Cello Sonata
Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp
Syrinx

The Boston Symphony Chamber Players made a few critically-acclaimed recordings for Deutsche Grammophon in the 1970s, among them the Second Viennese School's reworkings of Strauss waltzes. Drawn from players of the Boston Symphony, with Michael Tilson Thomas as pianist (here in the two string sonatas) the playing is febrile, alert and atmospheric. This collection brings together all the major chamber works Debussy wrote, apart from the String Quartet and includes an especially luminous chamber transcription, by Benno Sachs, itself the subject of a comprehensive dissertation in the booklet. Previously released as part of DG's 'Galleria' series, the recording now reappears on Eloquence at budget price. 'remarkably transparent [Prelude] ... an attractive collection' (Penguin Guide to CDs)
return to top