The original and still the most revered and respected of Early Music labels returns!

Cat. No.: 475 9098
Barcode: 0028947590989
Label: Decca CD
Release Date:
15 September

CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD | VIVALDI: The Four Seasons  

ARTISTS

Christopher Hirons, violin [Concerto No. 1]
John Holloway, violin [Concerto No. 2]
Alison Bury, violin [Concerto No. 3]
Catherine Mackintosh, violin [Concerto No. 4]

TRACK LISTING

VIVALDI: The Four Seasons
Concerto No. 1 'La primavera'
Concerto No. 2 'L'estate'
Concerto No. 3 'L'autunno'
Concerto No. 4 'L'inverno'

This acclaimed recording of Vivaldi's popular Four Seasons concertos makes a welcome return on CD.

The Academy of Ancient Music is directed by Christopher Hogwood who, among others, led the English revival in the use of authentic instruments and performing styles.

Originally released in the early 1980s on Decca's L'Oiseau Lyre label, and remaining in the Decca catalogue for many years, this was produced during the 'renaissance' of the baroque era.

Each of the four concertos has a different soloist, a decision believed to match Vivaldi's original practice more closely than the usual modern allocation to a single player. The soloists here are Christopher Hirons ( Spring ), John Holloway ( Summer ), Alison Bury ( Autumn ) and Catherine Mackintosh ( Winter ).

Characteristically employing a small orchestra (4/4/3/2/1 + continuo), Hogwood steps aside from conventional interpretation to include both baroque guitar and archlute in the continuo line. The score used here is the Le Cène edition, representing the form in which each concerto was best known throughout Europe.

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Cat. No.: 475 9100
Barcode: 0028947591009
Label: Decca CD
Release Date:
15 September

CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD | REBEL: Les Éléments  

ARTISTS

The Academy of Ancient Music
Christopher Hogwood

TRACK LISTING

REBEL: Les Éléments
DESTOUCHES: Les Éléments

This 1978 recording presents two baroque ballets, both entitled Les Éléments, by French baroque composers Jean-Féry Rebel and André Cardinal Destouches.

The Academy of Ancient Music is directed by Christopher Hogwood who, among others, led the English revival in the use of authentic instruments and performing styles.

Originally released in the late 1970s on Decca's L'Oiseau Lyre label, and remaining in the Decca catalogue for many years, this was produced during the 'renaissance' of the baroque era. Many leading baroque players of the past twenty years are featured on this recording, including Simon Standage, Anthony Pleeth, Catherine Mackintosh and Nicholas McGegan.

Contemporaries of each other and also of Couperin and Lully, both composers here set out to depict nature through its four principle elements, Earth, Water, Air and Fire, with a variety of different dances. Premiered in 1737, heralded a success by the 'Mercure de France', Les Éléments is widely considered Rebel's finest work for orchestra. A number of different scores were combined to prepare the final orchestration that exists on this recording.

Destouches' Ballet du Roy, Les Éléments, was premiered in 1721, and directed by Rebel, himself in his role as composer to the king and batteur de mesure at the Opéra.

Notably, the notes in this release are written by Nicholas McGegan, a leading authority on baroque and classical repertoire, and playing flute on this recording with the Academy of Ancient Music.

Original review:
'The sequence of dances, beautifully performed on original instruments by Hogwood's Academy, is consistently sharp and refreshing, helping to revive an undeservedly neglected name.'
***Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

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Cat. No.: 475 9102
Barcode: 0028947591023
Label: Decca CD
Release Date:
15 September

CATHERINE BOTT | Italian Vocal Music  

ARTISTS

Catherine Bott, soprano
Philip Pickett
New London Consort

TRACK LISTING

RORE: Beato me direi
CAVALIERI: Godi turba mortal
ARCHILEI: Dalle più alte sfere
LUZZASCHI: O primavera
CACCINI: Sfogava con le stele ? Filli, mirando il cielo ? Al fonte, al prato
RASI: Indarno Febo ? Ahi, fuggitivo ben
CACCINI: O che nuovo stupor
GAGLIANO: Pastor levate su
MARINI: Con le stelle in ciel che mai ? Invito all'allegrezza
FRESCOBALDI: Aria di Romanesca ? Sonnetto spirituale: Maddallena alla Croce
FRESCOBALDI: Se l'aura spira
MONTEVERDI: Exulta filia Sion
MONTEVERDI: Laudate Dominum
BERVARDI: O dulcissima dilecta mia
ROSSI: La gelosia
CARISSIMI: Il lamento in morte di Maria Stuarda

Catherine Bott sings a collection of virtuoso Italian vocal music accompanied by Philip Pickett and the New London Consort in this 1985 recording.

An acclaimed interpreter of baroque music, this was Catherine Bott's first solo disc for Decca. It was followed by a disc of Mad Songs and scenas; a Purcell song recital and in 2001 'The World of Catherine Bott', all released by Decca.

The album features songs by 17th century composers Giulio Caccini, Girolamo Frescobaldi and Claudio Monteverdi as well as their lesser-known contemporaries Marco da Gagliano, Biagio Marini, Francesco Rasi and Emilio di Cavalieri.

The highly ornamental and virtuosic style of this monodic repertoire, established first in the Renaissance, lends itself perfectly to Bott's versatile, espressive and luminous voice.

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Cat. No.: 475 9103
Barcode: 0028947591030
Label: Decca 2CD
Release Date:
15 September

PHILIP PICKETT | The Pilgrimage to Santiago  

ARTISTS

New London Consort
Philip Pickett

TRACK LISTING

Navarre and Castile
Quen a Virgen ben servira
Belial vocatur/Tenor
Surrexit de tumulo
Non e gran causa
Ex illustri
Alpha bovi/Domino
4 Planctus
Verbum bonum et suave
Agnus Dei/Regula moris
Fa fa mi fa/Ut re mi ut
Dum pater familias
León and Galicia
De grad'a Santa Maria
Annua gaudia
Ben com'aos
Regi perennis
Non sofre Santa Maria Por dereito ten a Virgen
Nostra phalanx
A Madre de Deus
Congaudeant catholici
7 Cantigas de amigo
Dum pater familias

Philip Pickett directs the New London Consort in this substantial collection of early polyphonic music associated with the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, recorded in 1989.

This was the first recording containing the complete and uncut collection of songs which relate directly to Santiago, the pilgrims and the pilgrimage.

The recording features leading early music singers Catherine Bott, John Mark Ainsley, Catherine King and Michael George.

Previously unheard sounds and new scholarship are presented here following Philip Pickett's extensive research into the polyphonic repertories of the Las Huelgas manuscript and the Codex Calixtinus.

Originally released on Decca's L'Oiseau Lyre label, and remaining in the Decca catalogue for many years, this CD recording makes a welcome return to the catalogue.

One of today's most eminent advocates of period performance, Philip Pickett founded the New London Consort in the 1980s.

The booklet includes comprehensive historical placement and background of each song, together with full texts and translations.

Original review:
'The Cantigas remain some of the most enticing melodies ever written and the New London Consort do them full justice.'

'If there is early polyphony that sounds fresher than the four-part Belial vocatur it has yet to be recorded.' The Good CD Guide

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Cat. No.: 475 9107
Barcode: 0028947591078
Label: Decca CD
Release Date:
15 September

CHRISTOPHE ROUSSET | RAMEAU: Overtures  

ARTISTS

Les Talens Lyriques

Christophe Rousset

TRACK LISTING

RAMEAU: Ouvertures
Les Fêtes de Polymnie
Les Indes galantes
Zaïs
Castor et Pollux
Naïs
Platée
Les Talens lyriques ( Les Fêtes d'Hébé )
Zoroastre
Dardanus
Les Paladins
Hippolyte et Aricie
Le Temple de la Gloire
Pigmalion
Les Surprises de l'Amour - Prologue ( Le Retour d'Astrée )
Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, ou Les Dieux d'Égypte
Les Surprises de l'Amour - Acte I ( L'Enlèvement d'Adonis )
Acante et Céphise, ou La Sympathie

Christophe Rousset directs Les Talens Lyriques in this award-winning recording illustrating the orchestral development and diversity of Rameau's overtures over a period of almost three decades.

From the early overtures of the 1730s, including Hippolyte et Aricie and Les Indes galantes , through the 1740s, with Les Fêtes de Polymnie and Platée , culminating in the 'programme overtures' of the 1750s such as Zoroastre and Acante et Céphise , this recording showcases the increased use of imagination, freedom of form, and melodic independence that Rameau accomplishes during his compositional journey.

Founded in 1991 by 18th century opera specialist Christophe Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques comprises the 'new baroque generation' of instrumentalists and singers.

As a group, they have had numerous successes on disc, including Pergolesi's Stabat Mater , Mozart's Mitridate , Persée and Roland by Lully and this recording, Rameau Ouvertures.

This disc was awarded Winner of the Gramophone Early Music Award 1998.

Original reviews:
'Les Talens Lyriques responds admirably to this music, relishing every bar of it in performances which are refined in ensemble and articulate in speech. Rousset has proved himself a fine exponent of this hugely rewarding repertoire.' Good CD Guide

'Christophe Rousset and his accomplished musicians play with flair and imagination and are superbly recorded. One of the best discs of its kind for the last three years.' ***Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

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Cat. No.: 475 9109
Barcode: 0028947591092
Label: Decca CD
Release Date:
15 September

EMMA KIRKBY | PURCELL: Songs & Airs  

ARTISTS

Emma Kirkby, soprano
Anthony Rooley, lute
Christopher Hogwood, organ & spinet
Richard Campbell, viola da gamba
Catherine Mackintosh, violin

TRACK LISTING

PURCELL: 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

Recorded in 1982 this collection of Songs and Airs by Purcell features world-renowned early music singer Emma Kirkby.

Kirkby is joined by Christopher Hogwood, Anthony Rooley, Richard Campbell and Catherine Mackintosh, all members of the Academy of Ancient Music and each acclaimed instrumentalists and champions of the baroque. Originally released in the early 1980s on Decca's L'Oiseau Lyre label, and remaining in the Decca catalogue for many years, this was produced during the 'revival' of the baroque and renaissance eras.

Emma Kirkby, known the world over for her quintessential pure, agile sound and clarity of diction, has dedicated herself to performance and recordings of baroque and renaissance repertoire. In this recital she presents an eclectic collection of Purcell's Songs and Airs on this disc, capturing the variety of form, counterpoint and expression that comprise only part of this genius song writer's legacy.

These range from the early 'scena' songs (1683) such as the well-known ' Bess of Bedlam ' to the lyrical ' I attempt from love's sickness to fly in vain ' from the opera The Indian Queen (1695) and the emotional, and perhaps last written Song, ' Lovely, lovely Albina '.

Original review:
'The Evening Hymn is radiantly done, and so are many of the less well-known airs which regularly bring new revelation. Excellent recording, if with the voice forward, given striking extra presence on CD.' ***Penguin Guide to Compact Discs

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Cat. No.: 475 9113
Barcode: 0028947591139
Label: Decca CD
Release Date:
15 September

ANDREW PARROTT | GABRIELI: Symphoniae Sacrae II  

ARTISTS

The Taverner Choir
London Cornett & Sackbutt Ensemble
Andrew Parrott

TRACK LISTING

GABRIELI: Symphoniae Sacrae II, 1615
Magnificat a 14
Suscipe a 12
Quem vidistis pastores a 14
Buccinate in neomenia a 19
In ecclesiis a 14
Jubilate Deo a 10
Misericordia a 12
Surrexit Christus a 11
Magnificat a 17

Andrew Parrott directs The Taverner Choir and the London Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble in this 1977 L'Oiseau Lyre recording of nine of Gabrieli's Symphoniae Sacrae.

A master of the ceremonial motet, these are drawn from Gabrieli's second book of Symphoniae Sacrae, most of which were originally written for performance at San Marco in Venice, where Gabrieli worked as organist from 1584 until his death in 1612.

These motets are for multiple choirs (both vocal and instrumental), written to employ all of the many musicians in San Marco.

The characteristic separation of choirs in the galleries, floor and around the altar of the church ( chori spezzati ) results in superb acoustic effects in this multi-part repertoire.

The motets range from two to four choirs and from ten to nineteen parts, and include the harmonically subtle and intense Suscipe , a motet for St John the Baptist, alongside the most opulent of Gabrieli's motets, Buccinate in neomenia (from Psalm 81), a classic of the Venetian chori spezzati style.

Andrew Parrott founded The Taverner Choir and Players in 1973. Still playing and recording repertoire from over seven centuries - from early medieval music to new commissions - their pioneering work in authentic performance practice has achieved a fuller understanding of Europe's vast musical literature.

Emma Kirkby, Rogers Covey-Crump, Martyn Hill and David Thomas are among the twelve singers featured on this album, alongside the London Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble.

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Cat. No.: 475 9115
Barcode: 0028947591153
Label: Decca CD
Release Date:
15 September

ANTHONY ROOLEY | MONTEVERDI: Madrigali Erotica  

ARTISTS

The Consort of Musicke
Anthony Rooley

TRACK LISTING

MONTEVERDI: Madrigali erotici
Con che soavità, labbra odorate
Vorrei baciarti, o Filli
Tempro la cetra
Mentre vaga Angioletta
Come dolce hoggi l'auretta
Chiome d'oro
S'el vostro cor, Madonna
Ohimè, dov'è il mio ben?
Ogni amante è guerrier
Parlo, misero, o taccio?

Anthony Rooley directs The Consort of Musicke in Monteverdi's ten Madrigali erotici in this 1982 recording. He is joined by Emma Kirkby, David Thomas, Judith Nelson, Poppy Holden, Paul Elliott, Andrew King and Richard Wistreich, all regular members of The Consort of Musicke.

A prolific composer of this polyphonic music, Monteverdi's Madrigali erotici are drawn from across a number of his Madrigal Books, including the Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi and Settimo libro di madrigali (7th book of Madrigals).

The Consort of Musicke is one of the seminal groups of the modern Early Music Movement. They were among the dominant forces in the performance of Renaissance madrigals & lute songs throughout the 1970s & 1980s, and recorded frequently for the L'Oiseau Lyre label. Originally released in the early 1980s on Decca's L'Oiseau Lyre label, and remaining in the Decca catalogue for many years, this recording was produced during the 'revival' of the baroque and renaissance eras.

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Cat. No.: 475 9117
Barcode: 0028947591177
Label: Decca CD
Release Date:
15 September

CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD | ARNE: 8 Overtures  

ARTISTS

The Academy of Ancient Music
Christopher Hogwood

TRACK LISTING

ARNE: Overture No. 3 in G Major
Overture No. 1 in E Minor
Overture No. 2 in A Major
Overture No. 4 in F Major
Overture No. 5 in D Major
Overture No. 6 in B flat Major
Overture No. 7 in D Major
Overture No. 8 in G Minor

One of the original 'Florilegium Series' released on the L'Oiseau Lyre label around 1974, this stereo recording features Christopher Hogwood and The Academy of Ancient Music in one of their earliest recordings. Remastered from the original master tapes, this is the first international release on CD. Arne's Eight Overtures are presented on this disc, and as with all Academy of Ancient Music recordings, all on authentic instruments.

The full breadth of Arne's development of form and sound is heard here in these Overtures. Composed across some three decades, they show clearly how Arne progressed from the traditional French overture form of the 1730s towards introducing elements of the Italian 'bustling' style, the more 'avant-garde' style of Berlin (empfindsam), and a multitude of dances from minuet, rondeau, hornpipe and at the end of the last overture, an English 'jigg'.

Formed in 1973, The Academy of Ancient Music is now widely considered one of the world's pre-eminent period instrument ensembles. Leading the revival in interest in baroque and classical repertoire, they are still performing and recording today, now in their fourth decade.

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Cat. No.: 475 9119
Barcode: 0028947591191
Label: Decca CD
Release Date: 15 September

MEDIEVAL ENSEMBLE | Ce Diabolico Chant  

ARTISTS

The Medieval Ensemble of London
Peter Davies & Timothy Davies

TRACK LISTING

SUZOY: Prophilias (Ballade) ? A l'arbre sec (Ballade) ? Pictagoras jabol (Ballade)
SENLECHES: Je me merveil (Ballade) | En ce gracieux tamps (Virelai) | Fuions de ci (Ballade)
GUIDO: Dieux gart (Rondeau) | Or voit tout (Ballade)

Peter Davies and Timothy Davies direct The Medieval Ensemble of London in this 1983 recording of Ballades, Rondeaus and Virelais of the late 14th century. This remastered recording appears on CD for the first time internationally.

'Ce diabolic chant' is a description of the extravagant and complex polyphonic French songs written by composers of the late fourteenth-century. The poetic forms of these songs - ballade, rondeau and virelai - were principally established by their influential (and now widely recorded) predecessor Guillaume de Machaut. The compositions on this disc represent the complete works of each composer. Medieval instruments rebec, fiddle, douçaine, gittern and lute, join alto, tenor and baritone voices from within the Ensemble.

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