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John Kitchen - Instruments from the Raymond Russell Collection Vol. 2 (2005)

Posted By: ArlegZ
John Kitchen - Instruments from the Raymond Russell Collection Vol. 2 (2005)

John Kitchen - Instruments from the Raymond Russell Collection Vol. 2 (2005)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 445 Mb | Total time: 77:22 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Delphian | # DCD34039 | Recorded: 2005

Edinburgh University’s Russell Collection is one of the world’s finest collections of early keyboard instruments. The second volume in John Kitchen’s ongoing project to bring its musical exhibits to life matches music by Handel, Purcell, the Scottish composer Robert Bremner and others including Mozart’s son Franz Xaver with a gloriously vigorous menagerie of spinets, virginals, chamber organs, clavichord and harpsichords.

Martin Neary, Westminster Abbey Choir, New London Consort - Henry Purcell: Music for Queen Mary (1995)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Martin Neary, Westminster Abbey Choir, New London Consort - Henry Purcell: Music for Queen Mary (1995)

Martin Neary, Westminster Abbey Choir, New London Consort - Henry Purcell: Music for Queen Mary, a celebration of the life and death of Queen Mary (1995)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 357 Mb | Total time: 78:28 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Sony Classical | # SK 66243 | Recorded: 1994

Martin Neary and Westminster Abbey Choir, aided and abetted by the New London Consort, marked the tercentenary of Purcell’s death with this recording, a majestic album of the composer’s music for Queen Mary in life and in death. The Funeral Music opens here with Wood’s transcription of the ‘Old English March’ in procession through Westminster Abbey’s reverberant interior, then in company with the windband marches of Tollet and Paisible and Purcell’s Funeral March. For sense of place, history, and grandeur, nothing beats Neary’s recording. His choir are on peak form in Morley’s Funeral Sentences but hindered by indistinct recorded sound.

Sophie Yates - The Pleasures of the Imagination: English 18th Century Music for the Harpsichord (2016)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Sophie Yates - The Pleasures of the Imagination: English 18th Century Music for the Harpsichord (2016)

Sophie Yates - The Pleasures of the Imagination: English 18th Century Music for the Harpsichord (2016)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 501 Mb | Total time: 75:20 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 0814 | Recorded: 2012

Collections of Baroque keyboard music are often focused on famous French and German composers, so there's comparatively little available on CD of English harpsichord music of the 18th century, aside from recordings of works by Henry Purcell and George Frederick Handel. Considering the rarity of its material, Sophie Yates' 2016 album on Chaconne, The Pleasures of the Imagination, holds a certain appeal because its selections haven't been dulled by excessive anthologizing. While some of the composers' names may ring a bell, such as John Blow, Jeremiah Clarke, Thomas Arne, and Johann Christian Bach (the "London Bach"), their contributions here will be unknown to most listeners, while William Croft, Maurice Greene, and Richard Jones are known only to specialists in the period.

Palladian Ensemble - A Choice Collection: Music of Purcell's London (1995)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Palladian Ensemble - A Choice Collection: Music of Purcell's London (1995)

Palladian Ensemble - A Choice Collection: Music of Purcell's London (1995)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 347 Mb | Total time: 66:18 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Linn Records | # CKD 041 | Recorded: 1995

The "choice collection" of "music of Purcell's London" is of items such as might have been heard at the concerts of then contemporary music held on the premises of Thomas Britton, the "small coalman", surely one of the most 'unlikely' patrons in the history of music. It is in effect complimentary to the Palladian Ensemble's earlier disc (An Excess of Pleasure, also on Linn records), with another liberal helping of Matteis's various and sometimes agreeably bizarre Ayres and two more of Locke's Broken Consorts, which we find absorbing rather than confusing - as Charles II did…

Constance Taillard - Versailles - Westminster (2022)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Constance Taillard - Versailles - Westminster (2022)

Constance Taillard - Versailles - Westminster (2022)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 423 Mb | Total time: 78:32 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Château de Versailles Spectacles | # CVS056 | Recorded: 2020

France and England had strong musical links during the reign of Louis XIV, with two Englsih sovereigns exiled to France, Francophiles and Francophones, Catholics and allies, linked by blood to their cousin, the Greatest King in the World. After the beheading of his father in 1649, Charles II sought refuge in France before regaining his throne in 1660 and imposing a musical style marked by the French example, in particular the creation of the 24 King’s Violins, and the Royal Academy of Music directed by the Frenchman Cambert! Then from 1689 to 1701, it was James II who lived in exile in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Gerard Lesne, Steve Dugardin, La Canzona - John Blow: An ode on the death of Mr Henry Purcell (2000)

Posted By: tirexiss
Gerard Lesne, Steve Dugardin, La Canzona - John Blow: An ode on the death of Mr Henry Purcell (2000)

Gerard Lesne, Steve Dugardin, La Canzona - John Blow: An ode on the death of Mr Henry Purcell (2000)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 01:04:09 | 324 MB
Genre: Classical, Vocal | Label: Virgin Classics | Catalog: 5453422

The teacher who has even one pupil who becomes even more distinguished than himself is fortunate; in Purcell, Blow had one such. And when that pupil's death precedes his own he has cause for genuine grief, as Blow did. One of the songs of Purcell, here alternated with instrumental pieces by Blow, contains the line 'Nor let my homely death embroider'd be with scutcheon or with elegy', but it is one with which Blow and others could not concur. In a programmatic tour de force Blow's profoundly beautiful vocal tribute to Purcell comes at the end.

Charles Medlam, London Baroque - John Blow: Venus & Adonis (1988)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Charles Medlam, London Baroque - John Blow: Venus & Adonis (1988)

Charles Medlam, London Baroque - John Blow: Venus & Adonis (1988)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 208 Mb | Total time: 49:44 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Harmonia Mundi | # HMC 901276 | Recorded: 1987

John Blow’s opera, Venus and Adonis , explores and exploits the themes of power play, manipulation, and yearning. Venus’s reluctance to surrender coupled with Adonis’s innocence leads to both a tragic accident and poignant transcendence. The work was the first to have been written by a female librettist, Anne Finch.

Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas, Ensemble Les Surprises - Purcell: Tyrannic Love (2020)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas, Ensemble Les Surprises - Purcell: Tyrannic Love (2020)

Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas, Ensemble Les Surprises - Purcell: Tyrannic Love (2020)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 302 Mb | Total time: 60:47 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Alpha | # ALPHA663 | Recorded: 2020

Until the late 1680s, Henry Purcell composed almost exclusively for the royal court. But when the monarchy decided to reduce its expenditure on music in 1690, he joined the United Company, a London theatre company, and devoted himself to composing for its productions. These took varied forms, with operas such as King Arthur (1691), The Fairy Queen (1692) and The Indian Queen (1695) but also spoken plays with music, such as The Virtuous Wife (1695). It is excerpts from these works that are presented in Tyrannic Love. Compositions by Purcell’s colleagues or followers John Blow, John Eccles, Jeremiah Clarke and Daniel Purcell complete the programme.

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi - 100 Great Recordings, Part 4 (2017)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Deutsche Harmonia Mundi - 100 Great Recordings, Part 4 (2017)

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi - 100 Great Recordings, Part 4 (2017)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 6,72 Gb | Scans included
Classical | Label: Deutsche Harmonia Mundi | # 19075800702 | Recorded: 1960-2013

Since it's founding in Freiburg in 1958, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi has been one of the most important and ambitious labels for period performances. Over decades, globally-acclaimed recordings were created with outstanding musicians. The limited edition "Deutsche Harmonia Mundi: 100 Great Recordings" contains 100 outstanding DHM recordings with some of the most important and best artists in their field: Nuria Rial, Dorothee Mields, Al Ayre Espanol, Hille Perl, Concentus Musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the Freiburger Barockorchester, Skip Sempé, Capriccio Stravagante, La Petite Bande, Gustav Leonhardt, Andrew Lawrence-King, Frieder Bernius, the Balthasar-Neumann-Chor, Thomas Hengelbrock and many others.

Seon - Excellence in Early Music [85CDs] Vol.1 (2014)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Seon - Excellence in Early Music [85CDs] Vol.1 (2014)

Seon - Excellence in Early Music [85CDs] Vol.1 (2014)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 4,84 Gb | Total time: 77:26:37 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Sony | # 88843089382 | Recorded: 1970-1984

SEON (Studio Erichson) is a period music label by the legendary producer Wolf Erichson. Erichson founded the label in 1969 as one of the first labels dedicated only to authentic music. The recordings were made with the best available recording techniques of the time and still deliver a high quality product in line with today's standards. This special boxset offers all SEON CD reissues from the late 90s on 85 CDs in a limited edition boxset.

Iestyn Davies, Ensemble Guadagni - Handel: Nine German Arias; Purcell; Buxtehude; Blow (2010)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Iestyn Davies, Ensemble Guadagni - Handel: Nine German Arias; Purcell; Buxtehude; Blow (2010)

Iestyn Davies, Ensemble Guadagni - Handel: Nine German Arias; Purcell; Buxtehude; Blow (2010)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 328 Mb | Total time: 76:46 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Wigmore Hall Live | # WHLive0038 | Recorded: 2009

The last decade of the 20th and the first decade of the 21st centuries have produced an array of astonishingly gifted countertenors who continue to set new standards of excellence and reveal possibilities for male singers performing in the traditional range of women who haven't been heard since the days of the castrati. Iestyn Davies doesn't have the spectacular instrument of some of the most dazzling countertenors of his generation but in his more modest way, he is no less impressive. His voice is pure, without a trace of the hollow hootiness that was once characteristic so many countertenors, and is absolutely secure and full from the bottom to the top of his range.

James Bowman, Michael Chance, Robert King, The King's Consort - Countertenor duets by Purcell and Blow (1988)

Posted By: ArlegZ
James Bowman, Michael Chance, Robert King, The King's Consort - Countertenor duets by Purcell and Blow (1988)

James Bowman, Michael Chance, Robert King, The King's Consort - Countertenor duets by Purcell and Blow (1988)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 296 Mb | Total time: 71:02 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | CDA 66253 | Recorded: 1987

This recording of duets by the great composers of the Restoration is one of the gems of Hyperion’s catalogue. It features the celebrated countertenors James Bowman and Michael Chance at the peak of their powers, and the combination of their two voices with the sympathetic accompaniment of The King’s Consort creates something uniquely glorious. Purcell was a countertenor himself and in his writing for the voice produced some of his most felicitous music. John Blow, Purcell’s predecessor and successor as organist of Westminster Abbey, reached his compositional zenith with the extended duet (almost a small cantata) on the subjects of Purcell’s tragic early death and inextinguishable influence.

Robert King, The King's Consort - The Coronation of King George II (2001)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Robert King, The King's Consort - The Coronation of King George II (2001)

Robert King, The King's Consort - The Coronation of King George II (2001)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 480 Mb | Total time: 100:47 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | CDA67286 | Recorded: 2001

"Why present just Handel's Coronation Anthems for King George II when you can present the whole Coronation?" seems to be the proposition that underlies this two-disc set, entitled The Coronation of King George II, 1727. And, thrillingly performed by Robert King directing the King's Consort and the Choir of the King's Consort, there seems no good reason not to, and every good reason to, do just that. King, who has led many stirring recordings of Handel's oratorios in his time, turns in splendid performances of the four Coronation Anthems, along with superb performances of ceremonial choral music by Tallis, Purcell, Gibbons, Blow, Farmer, and Child.

Harmonia Mundi - Opéra Baroque - England: Blow, Purcell, Handel [7cd] (2013)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Harmonia Mundi - Opéra Baroque - England: Blow, Purcell, Handel [7cd] (2013)

Harmonia Mundi - Opéra Baroque - England: Blow, Purcell, Handel [7cd] (2013)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 1,85 Gb | Total time: 675:10 | Digital booklet (PDF)
Classical | Label: Harmonia Mundi | # HMX2908658.99 | Recorded: 1989, 1998, 2002

This luxurious set containing 39 CDs, 3 DVDs, 1 CD-Rom and four detailed booklets will tell you the full story of Baroque opera in Italy, France, England, and Germany. No fewer than 17 complete operas (including two on DVD) and two supplementary CDs (the dawn of opera, Overtures for the Hamburg Opera) provide the most comprehensive overview of the genre ever attempted! The finest performers are assembled here under the direction of René Jacobs and William Christie to offer you 47 hours of music. An opportunity to discover or to hear again the masterpieces of Baroque opera, some of which have been unavailable on CD for many years.