Purcell: Royal Odes

King, Robert, The King's Consort

VIVAT 121

Soloists: Carolyn Sampson • Iestyn Davies • Charles Daniels • David de Winter • Edward Grint • Matthew Brook

An outstanding new recording from The King’s Consort brings together a world-class vocal and instrumental ensemble in a glorious programme of three of Purcell’s finest Royal Odes.

For more than three decades TKC has been renowned across the globe for its performances of the music of Henry Purcell. In 1988, TKC recorded its first disc of Purcell’s odes: that ground-breaking series of the complete odes (most of them at that time largely unknown) was followed by similar series of the sacred music and the secular songs, and changed the musical world’s perception of Purcell. Since then there has been hardly a year in which the odes haven’t appeared in TKC’s concert programmes: this is music which runs through the ensemble’s veins.

Spanning almost the whole of his period as an established composer, Purcell’s odes show him at his finest. A glorious succession of overtures, choruses, arias and delicious ritornelli display astonishing imagination and ingenuity: yet never far beneath the surface lies the sense of melancholy, of fading glory, that is the hallmark of Purcell’s greatest music.

The recording was made in the spacious surroundings of recently restored Fairfield Halls, whose warm, clear acoustic is perfect for this music. Extensive presentation includes a 48 page full colour booklet with substantial liner notes in three languages, together with sung texts and session photos.

CD x 1

Vivat

31.03.2021

0794712387770